


Shark After Dark

by SamDreams



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Blow Jobs, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Sexual Blackmail/Non-Con (Not Main Pairing), Violence, shark attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 24,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27052771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamDreams/pseuds/SamDreams
Summary: It's Jensen Ackles's first summer as Chief of Police on Amity Island when a woman's grisly remains wash up on shore.  Jensen has to try and protect Amity's citizens from harm while dealing with an unreasonable mayor, working with a self-proclaimed shark expert who might be two sandwiches short of a picnic, and resisting a substantial temptation in the 6'4" form of a marine biologist named Jared Padalecki.  It's gonna be one hell of a summer.Written for Round 11 of SPN Cinema.  Story based on the movieJaws.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 33
Kudos: 282
Collections: SPN Cinema





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _Picture it. America, 1975…_
> 
> It was the first year that vehicles were required to be built with unleaded fuel tanks. It was long before cell phones, in the days when people still had to wait for the telephone dial to spin back to its resting spot each time they dialed a digit of a telephone number. Long before computers, back when office workers still used manual typewriters for reports and carbon paper to make copies. 
> 
> It would be several years before AIDS became a widespread concern. It was a time well before safe sex became a standard practice. K-Y Jelly was only available by prescription. Homophobia was commonplace, and laws preventing sexual orientation discrimination were nonexistent. 
> 
> It was the June that “Sister Golden Hair” hit number one on the pop charts. A time when pet rocks were all the rage. When cigarette smoking was so prevalent that it was allowed even inside hospitals. When fashion demanded burnt orange or rust-colored clothing and platform shoes. When avocado green and harvest gold kitchen appliances reigned supreme. 
> 
> And, most importantly, it was the summer that made **_everyone_** afraid to go in the ocean.
> 
>  **Secondary Note:**  
>  Thank you so much for taking the time to read my entry for Round 11’s SPN Cinema. I’ve seen _Jaws_ more times than I can count. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies. There are some scenes and quotes directly from the movie in this story, but many scenes and quotes have been added, deleted, swapped, or changed to make it a bit more J2-friendly. The shark's victims are intentionally named after SPN characters who may or may not deserve to be eaten by a colossal great white shark. :P I really hope you enjoy my interpretation of _Jaws_ , J2-style!
> 
> The story title is shamelessly borrowed from the Discovery show of the same name that airs during Shark Week, just because it just made me giggle to think of it as an X-rated _Jaws_ story title.
> 
> The supremely gifted Phoenix1966 did all of the stunning art work for this story, for which I am eternally grateful. She is a very talented artist as well as a phenomenal writer. If you haven’t read her stories, you are missing out. You can check her out on AO3 here:
> 
> [Phoenix1966](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix1966/pseuds/Phoenix1966)
> 
> I also need to thank my wonderful and very patient beta, JC, for her tireless assistance every time I have a story idea and send her my pages. Also, because I am a terrible procrastinator, any remaining mistakes in this story are entirely mine. Additional thank-yous to our moderators of this challenge for everything they do! This wouldn't be possible without you!

_Saturday, June 28, 1975  
6_ _:15 a.m._

Jensen Ackles heaved deep breaths as his feet slogged through the thick sand on the beach. He was on the last mile of his four-mile jogging route. As usual, he cursed himself for not starting off in the opposite direction to get this hard part out of the way first. For some reason, he preferred it this way. Maybe it was something about pushing himself, and the feeling of accomplishment when he reached the front steps of his house again. 

He hadn’t been able to jog like this in New York City. Jogging in New York meant sifting around hundreds of people along city streets that were teeming with stop lights on every corner, taxis everywhere. Added to that was the impractical nature of his work hours, which made any sort of jogging schedule virtually impossible. When he’d first joined the NYPD, he’d really missed all the frequent exercise from his Army days. The drop in his physical activity level was like going from 100mph to 10mph overnight. He got some exercise chasing after offenders now and again, but it wasn’t the same. He went to his neighborhood gym and lifted weights once or twice a week, but that was about it. Most days he’d been too bone-tired to think about any type of exercise other than what he was getting on the job.

Now that Jensen was Amity’s Police Chief, he had the flexibility to run every day. More importantly, he had the desire to run every day. The scenery was always worth it.

It was still early, but the summer sun had broken the horizon, splashing a stunning palette of pinks and purples across the sky. Jensen glanced out over the breaking waves and subconsciously slowed his pace. For the last four days, there’d been a man surfing in this spot. Jensen smiled when he realized that his surfer was there again.

He watched as the tall figure popped up to stand on the surfboard just as a large wave started to crest. He easily carved back and forth through the water as he headed toward shore. Since it was Jensen’s first summer on Amity Island, he hadn’t actually seen anyone surf before. Surfing didn’t exist in the heart of New York City, and his hometown of Richardson, Texas hadn’t offered any such opportunities either. 

The surfer reached the beach and flicked his wet hair from his eyes. It was only when the stranger raised his hand in a friendly wave that Jensen realized he’d completely stopped running this time and was standing there gawking like a thirteen-year-old teenager. Embarrassed, he gave a brief wave back and then bent over to adjust his tube socks, hoping that it seemed a reasonable enough excuse for stopping. He didn’t normally stop along this stretch of beach, no matter how hard it was to run in the thick sand, so he didn’t want to examine too closely his reason for stopping today. He did _not_ need this sort of distraction in his life right now. Things were already stressful enough as he adjusted to a new job, new house, and a completely different environment.

He tensed when his surfer jabbed the surfboard into the sand and took a step toward Jensen. Jensen’s eyes widened. The guy was coming over to talk to him. He cursed himself again for stopping.

The shrill _beep beep beep_ of Jensen’s pager shattered the moment. He quickly turned it off. There was only one person who would page him at this hour, and that meant bad news at the office. Giving an apologetic shrug and another wave, Jensen waved the pager at the stranger and dug his feet into the sand again, pushing himself to run as fast as possible to the nearest payphone.

***~*~*~***

_6:50 a.m._

Jensen arrived at a different part of Amity’s shoreline 30 minutes later, showered and in uniform. Samantha Ferris, his assistant, had told him that some kid had called in a missing person. Rather than waste time going to the station and back out again, Jensen had arranged to meet the guy near the site of the alleged disappearance. He’d already sent his deputy, DJ Qualls, to walk the beach looking for signs of foul play while Jensen questioned the witness.

Jensen pulled his two-toned gold and white Amity Police Chevy truck behind DJ’s police cruiser and parked on the shoulder of the road. He hopped out of the truck and looked at the young man sitting cross-legged on the sand dune. He appeared to be in his early twenties, with mussed blond hair and red-rimmed blue eyes.

“I’m Chief Ackles,” he said as he approached the young man. “Sorry to keep you waiting. What’s your name?”

“Chad.”

Jensen smiled to put his guest at ease. “Nice to meet you, Chad. Got a last name?”

“Oh. Murray. Sorry, rough night.”

“Samantha tells me you have a missing person to report?”

Chad only nodded.

Jensen pulled out a notepad and pen from his pocket. “Why don’t you start from the beginning and give me the details?”

Chad took a deep breath. “We were at a beach party last night. I don’t know whose it was. We were—”

Jensen held up his hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but who’s ‘we’?”

“Oh. Amelia.” When Jensen raised his eyebrow, Chad quickly added, “Richardson. Amelia Richardson.”

Nodding, Jensen scrawled the name on his notepad. “She your girlfriend?”

Chad snorted. “Naw, man. Just met her last night at the party.”

Jensen motioned for Chad to continue.

“Lotta people showed up. There was a bonfire, everyone drank a little. No dope or anything, just beer,” he quickly added. When Jensen didn’t say anything, Chad continued. “After a while, she—um, Amelia—got up and just started walking toward the beach. I got up and followed her.”

Jensen gave him a look, and Chad held his hands up. “Not like some creep, man. I just wanted to see if I could get her number.”

“Did you get her number?”

“Naw. She ran to the water, throwin’ off her clothes the whole time. Said she was gonna go swimming. Can you believe it? Skinny dipping.” He huffed a laugh. “Man, there was no way I’d miss out on that. I’m only human, you dig?”

Jensen smiled again. “So what happened next?”

“She went out into the water.”

“Did anyone else see her go into the water?”

“I don’t know. I guess someone could’ve. Last thing I remember was her yelling at me to come in the water. Then I just passed out right there on the beach. I woke up this morning soaking wet and she was gone.”

“You mean she ran out on you.”

“No, sir. She must’ve drowned.” When Jensen didn’t agree right away, he bristled. “Look, I reported it to you, didn’t I?”

“You live here?”

“Naw. Hartford. Grew up in Texas.”

“No kidding. Me, too.”  
  
“Yeah? San Antonio.”  
  
“Richardson.”  
  
“Far out,” Chad replied with a grin. “Small world.”

“You mind walking with me a little bit? I’d like to take a look around.”

Chad just nodded and stood up, brushing the sand from his jeans. “Okay, Chief.”

Jensen and Chad walked along the beach near the party site. Other than some empty beer cans and the remnants of a bonfire, there was nothing to indicate anything criminal had happened. 

“You here for the summer?”

“Yeah,” replied Chad, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Where are you staying?”

“Got a rental house on the beach off of Old Mill Road.”

“Just you?”

“Naw, man,” Chad said with a laugh. “I don’t have that kind of bread. Me and four other guys are sharing.”

Jensen was about to ask Chad for information about his roommates when Chad suddenly shouted, “Jay!”

Jensen turned toward the ocean to see who had caught Chad’s attention. He was shocked to see that it was his surfer, who was crouched in the sand holding a bucket. Still wearing his swim trunks from earlier, and shimmering like he’d just come out of the water, he appeared to be studying something on the ground very intently. At the sound of his name, the man turned and waved. “Hey, Chad!” he called back. 

“That’s Jay. He’s one of the guys staying at the house with me.” Chad started walking again, so Jensen followed.

“You know him well?”

Chad grinned. “Oh yeah. Me and Jay go way back. Best friends since we were in fifth grade together.”

Jensen nodded. Trying for nonchalant, he said, “Oh, hey, I forgot to ask your date of birth. Need it for my report.” He held his pen near his notepad expectantly.

“August 24th, 1952.”

Jensen smiled, pleased that he now knew his surfer was twenty-three years old, unless his birthday fell later in the year. He wanted to find out. The logical part of his brain thought better of pursuing anything at all regarding Jay, but he couldn’t help the giddy little zip that shot through him at finding out both the guy’s name and age.

After a few more moments of walking in silence, Jensen opened his mouth again, determined to ask Chad relevant, case-related questions. The sound of DJ’s whistle stopped him.

“Come on,” said Jensen, breaking off into a run and motioning for Chad to follow.

When they reached the spot where DJ sat in the sand, Jensen knew something was very wrong. DJ might be flighty and unconventional, but he generally wasn’t fazed by much. Jensen motioned for Chad to stay put at a safe distance while he slowly eased closer to see what had his deputy so rattled.

“What is it, DJ?”

DJ didn’t answer. He just motioned behind him. It was only then that Jensen saw the shredded body parts on the sand dune. He gasped. Crabs skittered over a severed arm and part of a female torso. Seaweed clumped over parts of the remains, obscuring full view of the carnage. Adrenalin shot through him. Even with all the violence he’d seen in New York City, he’d never come across anything so grisly. He took a deep breath to calm himself. 

_So much for a missing person report._


	2. Chapter 2

__

_9:20 a.m._

Jensen sat at his desk staring at the typewriter. He fed a blank police report form into the roller and began typing out the details of the case: date, crime scene location, reporter. When he got to “Cause of Death” he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. In his six years as a cop, he’d never had to type the words “SHARK ATTACK” on any report. He pushed down his unease and continued typing the details of how the remains had been discovered, and a summary of the coroner’s findings.

Just as Jensen finished typing, Sam walked into his office. “By the way, Chief, we’ve had a bunch of calls about the karate school. It seems the nine-year-olds from those classes have been karate-chopping the picket fences.”

Jensen only half-listened as he stood and donned his windbreaker. “Sam, I want a list of all the water activities that are planned for today, all right?”

“Okay,” she said, and went back to her desk to make some calls.

Jensen left his office and found DJ sitting in the lobby with a cup of coffee. He looked like his mind was a million miles away. 

Jensen asked him, “Where do we keep the ‘Beach Closed’ signs?”

DJ jerked in surprise, and then shook his head. “We never had any.”

“Never?” DJ shook his head again, and Jensen continued, “Then I’m going to the store to get supplies.”

***~*~*~***

_10:15 a.m._

Jensen hurried through the aisles of the general store, grabbing posts and boards suitable for the signs. He had everything but paint brushes, so he rushed down another aisle in search of what he needed. He spotted a crock filled with different brushes and made a beeline for it. 

He was just reaching for a paintbrush when he saw a tall—very tall—chestnut-haired man stroll through the front door. His hand stopped in mid-reach. It was his surfer. Jay. Up close. And dry for the first time ever. Jay’s hair was fairly short but a little shaggy. He had long bangs that framed his smooth-shaven face. The ends of his hair at the nape of his neck curled up enticingly, just begging to be touched. Jensen was surprised to see eyeglasses. He hadn’t expected it. Round gold wire framed Jay’s fox eyes. A faded black David Bowie Diamond Dogs Tour tee shirt stretched across his muscled chest, drawing Jensen’s gaze like a magnet. He wore blue jeans that were ripped at the knee. Jensen’s eyes trailed down Jay’s long legs and landed on a pair of black flip flops that completed his ensemble.

The clerk at the register gave a hearty, “Hi, Jay!” when he entered.

“Hey, Dave,” Jay answered with a smile, and Jensen felt all the blood rush from his head straight to his dick. Dimples. His surfer had adorable dimples. Jensen’s heart stuttered at the sight, which irritated him to no end. _Stupid_ , he admonished himself. _People could be killed by sharks and you’re ogling some tourist like an idiot. Get your head in the game, Ackles._

He was overzealous when he finally yanked the paintbrush from its holder. The crock overturned, spilling brushes all over the floor. Jensen cursed under his breath and stooped to pick them up. His hands full of poster boards and stakes, he struggled to grab the brushes.

“Can I help you with those?”

Jensen froze. Black flip flops appeared right in front of him. He slowly looked up to find his surfer standing over him, grinning. It was blinding. Straight white teeth in a wide smile that nobody, Jensen was quite certain, could ever possibly resist. 

He smiled back. He was formulating a polite way to decline when Jay crouched down beside him and started picking up the spilled paintbrushes.

“You don’t have to do that.”

Jay looked up and grinned again. “Nah, don’t be silly. You look like you have your hands pretty full already.”

He finished gathering the brushes and stuffed them back down in their holder.

“Thanks,” said Jensen, and when his brain completely blanked out on him, he blushed crimson. 

“Did you get the brushes you need?”

“Uh, just one. I could use a couple more.”

Jay glanced at the sign boards Jensen held and turned his attention back to the selection of brushes. Jensen watched as his long fingers sifted through the brush options until they plucked two back out.

“How about these?”

Jensen nodded. “Perfect. Thanks again.”

Jay handed Jensen the brushes carefully, making sure Jensen had a good grip on them.

“That was you on the beach earlier with Chad, right?”

“Yeah,” Jensen answered, shuffling the items around in his arms for a better grip.

“Um…everything okay? I mean, Chad can get a little crazy sometimes, but he’s really a good guy.”

Jensen smiled. “He was helping me with something. I’m surprised he hasn’t told you.”

“I haven’t seen him since I saw y’all on the beach.”

Jensen couldn’t help but smile at the Texas drawl in Jay’s voice. He wanted to hear so much more, but he had to get the supplies back to Sam. “You should ask him about it when you see him.”

Jay’s eyes widened slightly, like he just realized he might’ve asked something inappropriate. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“No, it’s fine,” Jensen assured him, trying to brighten his smile. He hated that he didn’t have time to talk, but he had to get back to work. “I’d love to chat, but I have to get back to the office.”

Jay glanced again at the boards and posts in Jensen’s arms, and Jensen could tell by his look that he wanted to ask what the signs were for. Instead, Jay just said, “Okay, yeah. I’ve gotta split, too. Good luck with them.”

Jensen moved toward the register, but paused and glanced back again. “Thanks again for the help.” It tore him up that he finally had the chance to talk with his surfer and couldn’t take advantage of it. He couldn’t very well say that, though, so instead, added a heartfelt, “I really appreciate it.”

Jay smiled that breathtaking smile again, and Jensen’s blood heated in response. _Jesus Christ, this kid needs a warning label._

As Jensen left the store a few minutes later, DJ pulled up along the curb in the police truck. “Sam sent me to tell you that there’s a Boy Scout troop doing their mile swim for merit badges today. I couldn’t call them in because there’s no phones out there.” DJ put the truck in park and hopped out. 

“Okay here, take these,” Jensen told him, and handed DJ his stockpile of posts, sign boards, paints, and brushes. DJ struggled not to drop anything as Jensen slid into the driver’s seat of the truck.

Putting the truck into gear, Jensen said, “Signs should say ‘Beaches Closed – No Swimming. By order of Amity PD.' Let Sam do the printing.”

“What’s wrong with my printing?”

“Let Sam do the printing!” Jensen called back as he drove off toward the ferry.


	3. Chapter 3

__

_10:45 a.m._

Jensen walked onto the ferry and hailed Tom Welling, the ferry operator.

“Hey, Tom. You think you can take me out to those boys swimming over there?”

“Sure thing, Chief,” Tom answered, and readied the ferry.

Jensen watched the boys swim. Their Scout Leader was in a rowboat giving them instruction and encouragement. He glanced around for any sign of trouble but found none. The water looked just like it always did. For most people, that probably meant that it looked relaxing or inviting. For Jensen, being close to water was about as relaxing as a root canal.

He was so engrossed in surveillance that he didn’t realize he had company on the ferry until Mayor Mark Pellegrino tapped his arm.

“Jensen, are you gonna shut down the beaches on your own authority?”

Jensen whirled around in surprise and noticed there were a couple of men with the mayor, one being DJ. The other was the coroner, Doctor Corin Nemec.

“Well, what other authority do I need?” asked Jensen.

“Technically, you need a civic ordinance or a resolution by a Board of Selectors. But that’s just going by the book. I’m really a little anxious that you’re rushing into something serious here. It’s your first summer here, after all.”

Jensen frowned. “What does that mean?”

Pellegrino smiled at Jensen. The thing about Pellegrino’s smile, though, was that it never seemed genuine. It always had a smarmy sheen to it that made Jensen wary. The Mayor used an equally-smarmy solicitous tone when he explained, “I’m just trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We _need_ summer dollars. If people can’t swim here, they’ll be happy to swim at the beaches in Cape Cod or The Hamptons.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to serve them up as smorgasbord.” The pit in Jensen’s stomach got bigger with every word the mayor uttered.

“We’ve never had that kind of trouble in these waters.”

“What else could’ve done that to that girl?” Jensen asked, this time directing his question to Nemec, who was standing beside the mayor with his arms folded across his chest.

Before Nemec could respond, Pellegrino suggested, “Boat propeller?”

Nemec thought a moment and answered, “I think, possibly, yes. A boating accident.”

“That’s not what you told me earlier after you examined the remains,” insisted Jensen, his disbelief evident.

“I was wrong. We’ll have to amend our reports.”

“And you’ll stand by that?” Jensen asked.

“I’ll stand by that, yes,” the coroner replied.

“Jensen,” said Pellegrino, putting an arm around Jensen’s shoulders like they were long-time friends, “a summer girl goes swimming. She swims out a little far, she tires, a fishing boat comes along…”

“It’s happened before,” said Nemec.

“I don’t think you appreciate the gut reaction people have to these things,” Pellegrino told Jensen.

“Of course I appreciate it, Mark. I’m just reacting to what I was told,” Jensen said, motioning to Nemec. He had to take a deep breath and count to ten to rein in his mounting temper.

“Jensen, it’s all psychological. You yell ‘Barracuda!’ and everybody says, ‘Huh? What?’ But you yell shark…and we’ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.”

Jensen studied Pellegrino for a few moments. Six years on the job and three years in the Army had given him a pretty good gut instinct. Everything in his gut right now was screaming at him that this was all bullshit, and he should leave his report exactly the way it was. He took a breath and let it out slowly. It was his first summer. He loved the town. He loved his new job. And, like it or not, Pellegrino was his boss. He couldn’t risk losing it all over a bad judgment call. He didn’t have a medical degree, and he sure as hell had no experience with marine life. If Nemec felt confident calling it a boating accident, then he’d do what Pellegrino asked.

Jensen watched as the Boy Scouts continued their swim. He sighed heavily. “All right,” he said at last. He looked pointedly at Nemec. “If you’re sure.”

Nemec nodded. “I’ll stand by it.”

“Excellent! Take us back, Tom,” Pellegrino said, patting Jensen on the back.


	4. Chapter 4

__

_Sunday, June 29, 1975  
_ _2:00 p.m._

Jensen took a deep breath and tried to relax. The sun was out in full force, warm and inviting. His sunglasses minimized the glare along the water. Vacation season had finally arrived. The beach was crowded. Jensen hadn’t seen many visitors in Amity since moving to the island last fall. Amity boasted a population of only 1,000 residents in the off-season. When summer was in full swing, Jensen expected that there would be upwards of 10,000 people crammed onto his little island. This, however, was his first glimpse of the reality of that population influx. It made him uneasy, which was ironic given that he’d just spent years in the most populated city in America.

A shriek from the water jerked him upright. A young woman flailed her arms and screamed again, drawing Jensen to his feet in alarm. When he saw the woman’s boyfriend break the surface beneath her, lifting her on his shoulders, Jensen cursed himself under his breath. He sat back down and tried to rein in his galloping heart. 

An elderly local man, Harry Mitchell, sat down on the empty chaise lounge next to Jensen and dried himself off. He wore a swimming cap that covered his ears. One side of the cap was flipped up as he dried his ear with his towel.

He smiled at Jensen. “You look a little uptight, Chief.”

Jensen forced a small smile. “I’m fine.”

“We’ve heard all about you. You don’t go in the water at all, do you?”

Jensen couldn’t say if it was the fact that he’d been the subject of town gossip, or the implication that there was something wrong with not swimming, or perhaps it was simply the fact that he actually _was_ uptight. Maybe it was all three. Whatever it was caused him to snap in reply, “That’s some bad hat, Harry.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up and he gave a little huff before moving to find a new spot to sit.

Jensen laid his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. He thought about his surfer and took another deep breath. Jensen wondered if he could find a way to orchestrate a casual run-in with Jay again. Something other than passing him on his morning jog. Something that would give Jensen a reasonable excuse to talk to Jay, to get to know him better. Not too forward, not overt, just…a conversation. He sighed. He needed to stop thinking about it. The kid would be gone by the end of the summer. Besides, the odds of him even being interested in Jensen were astronomical. He didn’t need this. Yet every time he had a minute to daydream, all he could think about was soft chestnut hair and dimples. Every ounce of common sense told him he should shut this down before it got out of hand. He should stop thinking about this guy before he got himself hurt, or worse, lost his job over it. The island was too small for gossip so big.

A collective screech pierced the low buzz of indistinct conversation nearby. Jensen’s head shot up at the sound. This time, the yelling didn’t stop. It ramped up, increasing in intensity. Swimmers poured out of the ocean in a frenzy of splashing and screaming. Jensen watched as a shower of crimson sprayed into the air and his mouth dropped in horror. He leapt to his feet and ran to the water line.

“Get out of the water! Everyone out of the water!” he called, waving everyone toward the shore.

Every instinct made him want to jump in and try to save as many swimmers as possible. But the feel of wet surf and sopping wet sand beneath his feet brought him up short. He couldn’t make himself go out further into the water. He looked at the chaos, the swimmers climbing over each other in fear, but he didn’t see any sign of what had caused the panic. Nothing was there to indicate the reason for the blood. 

When the swimmers were out, the shrill shrieking had stopped. Nothing remained except the sound of nearby children crying and friends and family huddled together assuring each other they were all right. Jensen frantically scanned the water for signs of danger and found nothing. 

“Claire?” called a middle-aged woman nearby. She appeared to be desperately searching for someone. “Claire?” 

When the remains of a yellow raft drifted to shore with the surf, Jensen’s heart plummeted. It was shredded. Sea foam tinged crimson washed up with the damaged raft.


	5. Chapter 5

__

_Monday, June 30, 1975  
_ _4:00 p.m._

Jensen dropped into his desk chair at the police station and stared blankly at the phone for several minutes. Little Claire Novak had paid the penalty for Jensen ignoring his gut. Jensen rubbed his face. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be sleeping well for the foreseeable future. He was okay with that. He deserved it. He tried not to look at the signs propped against the wall. The ones that read “Beaches Closed.” The ones that would have prevented the death of a twelve-year-old girl.

The Town Hall meeting earlier had been a circus. All the business owners in town were in an uproar over the idea of having to close the beaches. They only saw their profits circling the drain, and had expressed zero care or concern that human lives had been lost. 

Jensen rubbed his temples. Then Jeffrey Dean Morgan had shown up and offered to kill the shark for a fee. Jensen knew Morgan’s reputation around the island as a hard ass. Morgan kept to himself mostly, but his interactions nearly always caused offense or left others bristling in his wake. He didn’t break the law, though, so Jensen had never had cause to arrest him or bring him in for questioning. No, with Morgan it was always just head-butting and alpha posturing. He hadn’t had too much personal experience with Morgan himself, but DJ had told Jensen a few stories. Jensen didn’t much care what the man’s personality was, as long as he could get the job done and kill the shark. But still the Town Council had balked at spending the $10,000 that Morgan had demanded for his contracted rate. 

At least the Council had finally agreed to let Jensen call in a specialist, so there was the small comfort of knowing he’d have a knowledgeable subject matter expert to assist him soon. 

He lifted the phone receiver and slowly dialed the unfamiliar number.

“Woods Hole Institute, how may I help you?” the female voice greeted cheerfully.

“This is Chief Jensen Ackles of the Amity PD.”

“Oh, hi, Chief Ackles. I’m Genevieve Cortese. Our director said you’d be calling.”

“I appreciate you taking my call. We, um...we need your help. It’s possible we have a shark here that’s killed two people.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” she replied. After a slight pause, she added, “Sounds like you need Jared.”

“I really need the best shark expert you have. Someone who can tell us for sure what happened, and who can give us some guidance on how to handle this situation.”

“Like I said, you definitely need Jared. Jared Padalecki. He’s the best marine biologist we have.”

“Oh, all right. That’d be much appreciated.”

“The best part is that he’s already there.”

“He’s here on the island?”

“Yes. He went to Amity for a few days of vacation before leaving on his trip.”

“Oh. Does that mean he’s only available for a limited time?”

“Could be. He’s supposed to leave soon. I’ll contact him and tell him it’s urgent. When should I have him meet you?”

“How about first thing tomorrow morning?”

“I’m sure he’ll be interested when I tell him what’s going on. I’ll let you know if there’s any reason he can’t make it.”

They exchanged contact details and arranged for Jensen to meet Jared at the Harbor Master’s office the next morning at 8:00 a.m.


	6. Chapter 6

__

_Tuesday, July 1, 1975  
_ _7:50 a.m._

Jared Padalecki slowed his small speedboat as he neared the docks. It was pandemonium. He’d never seen such a mess in his life. He drove around for several minutes trying to find a good place to tie his boat. Once he found a spot, he secured the boat and tossed his duffle bag onto the dock. He climbed up onto the weathered wood slats and bent to retrieve his bag. 

He adjusted his knit cap and pulled his jeans up, vowing to buy himself a belt before going on his research trip. Surveying the commotion, he spotted a grey-shingled building with a large sign that read, “Amity Harbor: Harbormaster Frank Silva.” He headed toward the office. After just a few steps, he spotted the gorgeous police officer he’d run into at the general store, who was now uniformed and looked a bit harried amidst all the chaos on the docks. Jared headed his way, looking forward to talking with him again.

As he approached, he heard the officer talking to some sailors who were sitting in their boats arguing with each other. “Your boat has to move out first,” he explained to one of the sailors. “You have to move or he can’t get out.”

Jared scanned the situation with the sailboats and said, “Hey, Sloop. Don’t raise sail, you’re just gonna luff it. You got a paddle on the boat?” When the man nodded at Jared, Jared continued, “Just scull it out of here.”

Jared turned back to the uniformed officer and tried to get his attention, but the man was already distracted by another disagreement happening on the other side of the dock. The man was even more impressive up close. He was nearly as tall as Jared, which appealed to him since he himself was a very lofty 6'4". He was obviously fit, his tan police uniform showing off muscles across his shoulders and arms. His perfectly formed ass made Jared's mouth water just a bit as he watched the man try to gain some control over the chaos. 

Jared tried to get his attention. “Officer? Officer, wait—” but the officer was already hurrying to the end of the dock yelling at another group. Jared scurried to catch up to him.

“How many guys are you gonna put aboard that boat?” the officer called out to the large group of men standing in a small skiff.

Just then, another burly, red-haired man bumped into the officer. Jared noticed what the guy was holding and said in surprise, “Hey, watch it! That’s dynamite.”

The officer overheard Jared and caught Big Red’s arm. “Hold on, where you going with that?”  
  
Big Red said, “I’m taking it to my boat.”  
  
“Uh, no, no. I don’t think so,” said the officer, and then he looked up at Jared. “Please, please help me get those guys out of that boat, will ya?”

Jared nodded and replied, “Sure.”

“Come with me,” the officer said to the man holding the dynamite, and led him away.

Jared took a moment to appreciate the view as his beautiful police officer led the other man away from the docks. Then he turned to the large group of men in the boat. “Excuse me, gentlemen. Gentlemen!”

When they turned to look at Jared, he continued: “The officer asked me to tell you that you’re overloading that boat.”

One of the men on board flipped Jared the bird and yelled back, “You ain’t going out, what do you care?”

Jared rolled his eyes. He turned around to head back toward the harbormaster’s office and muttered, “They’re all gonna die.”

***~*~*~*~***

Jensen huffed in irritation at the complete chaos. On his way to the harbormaster’s office with Big Red, he passed DJ. He handed the man off to his deputy and asked DJ to make sure he confiscated the dynamite. 

Once inside the office, Jensen picked up the phone and dialed Samantha.

“Amity PD.”

“Hey, Sam. I need you to get the roadblock signs out on the highway. Get some help to do it.”

“Why, Chief?”

“Because this place is a zoo, that’s why. We have more people down here than we can handle.”

The office door opened and his surfer walked in. Jensen smiled and held up a finger. “Sam, please get those signs up ASAP, okay? Thanks.”

When Jensen hung up the phone, Jay said, “You know those eight guys on the fantail launch out there? Well, none of them are gonna get out of the harbor alive.”

Jensen sighed. “Christ.”

“Everybody seems to be having a really good time today.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I can see you’re really busy, but can you tell me how I can find Chief Ackles?”

Jensen paused, then realized that Jay had no idea that Jensen was the Police Chief. They’d never been formally introduced. “Oh! I’ve been meaning to introduce myself but things have been so crazy. I’m Chief Ackles.” 

They shook hands. “Jared Padalecki. I’m from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, you’re the guy I called! Chad called you Jay, so I didn’t realize it was you.”

“Yeah, some of my friends use that nickname. It’s great to officially meet you.” 

“You, too,” Jensen answered with a smile. He realized that he was still holding Jared’s hand and quickly let it drop.

“I’ve seen you jogging in the mornings. Chad told me he talked to the police, but he didn’t mention that you’re the new Chief. I guess Jim Beaver retired.”

“Yep. He decided to turn in his badge and spend more time fishing.”

Jared grinned. “Sounds like a great idea.”

“So what can I do to help you?” asked Jensen, trying to focus his attention more on the job at hand and less on Jared’s dimples.

“I know you’ve got a lot on your hands right now, but I think the best thing for me to do is to see the remains of the first victim. The girl on the beach.”

“Okay, sure. Just bear with me for a few minutes.”


	7. Chapter 7

__

_10:00 a.m._

Two hours later, Jared stood with Dr. Nemec and Jensen in the morgue.

“Let’s show Mr. Padalecki the remains of that accident victim,” Jensen said.

The doctor retrieved what little was left of Amelia Richardson’s body while Jared got his dictation recorder ready. Jared took off his eyeglasses and cleaned them with a tissue he’d pulled from a nearby box. Once he had his glasses back in place, he took a deep breath and removed the cover from the remains.

His first look was shocking, so he tried to compose himself a bit before recording his thoughts. Jared had seen several shark victims up close in his line of work, but this was the first time he’d seen such a huge amount of carnage up close. 

Jared cleared his throat and clicked the buttons to record. “The torso has been severed at mid-thorax. There are no major organs remaining. The right arm has been severed above the elbow with massive tissue loss in the upper musculature. Partially denuded bone remaining.” 

Without turning off the recorder, Jared turned to Nemec and declared, “This was no boat accident.” He shifted his attention to Jensen and asked, “Did you notify the coast guard about this?”

“No, it was only local jurisdiction.”

Jared turned back to his task, amazed that nobody had raised an alarm about this issue before now. “The left arm, head, shoulders, sternum, and portions of the rib cage are intact. This indicates the non-frenzied feeding of a large squalus, possibly _Longimanus_ or _Isurus Oxyrinchus_. The enormous amount of tissue loss prevents a detailed analysis; however, the attacking squalus must be considerably larger than any normal squalus found in these waters.”

Taking a deep breath, Jared clicked off his recorder. He looked at Jensen and asked, “Didn’t you get in a boat and check out these waters?”

“No.”

Jared was stunned that any coroner who cared even the tiniest bit about his reputation could possibly have written the death up as a boating accident. He studied Dr. Nemec and tried to size him up. His age implied he probably wasn’t fresh out of medical school, which ruled out the possibility of a rookie mistake; so, Jared concluded that something else had caused the doctor to write up such a blatant lie.

“Well, this is _not_ a boat accident,” Jared admonished, giving the coroner a knowing look. “And it wasn’t any propeller. And it wasn’t some coral reef. And it wasn’t Jack the Ripper.” He folded his arms. “It was a shark. We need to report this as a shark attack.”

Jensen nodded. “I’ll call the mayor.”

The ring of the telephone hanging on the wall broke the tension in the room. Dr. Nemec answered the call.

***~*~*~*~***

_11:00 a.m._

After the mayor called Jensen at the coroner’s office to announce the capture of a gigantic shark, Jensen drove Jared with him down to the docks.

“Why were you buying signboards and paintbrushes the other day?” asked Jared once they were both in the police truck.

Jensen flipped on the turn signal and completed his left turn before answering. “I was going to close the beaches.”

Jared studied Jensen’s profile for a few beats. Then: “Mind if I ask what stopped you?”

Sighing, Jensen answered, “Politics.”

Jared gave him a quizzical look. “How so?”

“Mayor Pellegrino caught up with me before I could post the signs. He said I needed additional approval before closing the beaches. Then Dr. Nemec said it was a boat accident.”

“No decent doctor would ever call that a boat accident.” Jared still couldn’t believe any self-respecting doctor would’ve gone along with such an egregious lie.

“He was pressured into it.”

“Why?”

“You should’ve been at the Town Council meeting. All the business owners on the island were completely against closing the beaches. They’re all worried about profits. Amity’s summer tourists set most of them up for the whole year. So, all the influential people in Amity banded together and sent the message loud and clear to the mayor: either he supports them and keeps the beaches open, or they’ll be electing a new mayor next year. Dr. Nemec is on the mayor’s payroll, so he pretty much does whatever Pellegrino says.”

Jared shook his head in disgust. “Unbelievable.”

“I have no experience with this kind of thing. I’ve never lived near the ocean.”

“Where did you work before taking this job?”

“New York City.”

“Ahh,” said Jared with a nod. “Yeah, no sharks there, I guess.”

“None with gills, anyway.”

Jared laughed softly. “What brought you to this little island? Big change from city life.”

“Yep. Exactly the reason I wanted this job.”

They arrived at the docks and Jensen parked the truck. Jared got out of the truck and noted the large crowd. Jensen walked toward the throng, and Jared grabbed his bag from the truck and trotted to catch up.

Jared stopped next to a large shark that was strung up by its tail. Dozens of excited onlookers pointed and exclaimed over the size of the shark.

As Jensen congratulated the men who caught the shark, Jared pulled out his tape measure and began measuring the shark’s open mouth. He made some quick notes about the shark’s bite radius in a small notebook.

He overheard a nearby bystander ask, “But what kind of shark?”

“Tiger shark,” answered Jared, scribbling notes about the shark’s length and tooth size.

Jensen interrupted Jared’s note-taking with, “Jared, this is Mayor Pellegrino. Mayor, this is Jared Padalecki, the expert from the Oceanographic Institute.”

The mayor and Jared shook hands. Pellegrino said, “Pleasure to meet you.”

Jared was about to respond when someone called over to insist that the mayor join them for a photograph.

Jared watched the mayor go and said to Jensen in a low voice, “Can I talk to you for a second?” He pulled Jensen aside.

“Jensen, there are all kinds of sharks in the water. Hammerheads, white tips, blues, makos. The chances that these jokers got the exact shark that killed those two people—“

Jensen interrupted him, asking in disbelief, “You think we have more sharks like this one out there?”

“I’m not saying that this is definitely not the shark. It probably is, Jensen. It’s a man-eater, and it’s extremely rare for these waters. But the fact is that the bite radius on this animal is different than the wounds on the victim.”

Jensen’s brow furrowed and Jared sighed. “I just…I wanna be sure. You wanna be sure. We all wanna be sure, okay? Now what I want to do is very simple. The digestive system of this animal is very, very slow. Let’s cut it open. Whatever it’s eaten in the last 24 hours is bound to still be in there, and then we’ll be sure.”

While Jared talked, Mayor Pellegrino had come close enough to hear. Jensen looked at his boss. In a resigned tone, Jensen said to him, “It may be the only way to confirm it.”

Pellegrino blanched and said in a low voice, “Look fellas, let’s be reasonable. This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of half-assed autopsy on a fish. And I am not going to stand here and see that thing cut open, and see that little Novak girl spill out all over the dock.”

“We’ll do it later after the shark is cut down,” Jared suggested. 

“Those boys won’t like having their trophy cut into ribbons,” Pellegrino argued.

“They got their fifteen minutes. We need answers,” replied Jensen.

When the crowd suddenly fell silent, the three men turned to see what had their attention. Mrs. Novak approached them. She was dressed in black.

She stopped in front of Jensen. Even though her face was somewhat hidden behind the short black veil on her hat, Jared could tell that she’d been crying. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face pale and drawn. “Are you Chief Ackles?” she asked Jensen.

“Yes.”

With no warning, she slapped Jensen hard across the face. Jared gasped. Pellegrino grimaced.

Mrs. Novak straightened her shoulders and said to Jensen, “I just found out that a young woman was killed here a few days ago. You knew the water wasn’t safe, but you let people go swimming anyway. And now my little girl is dead. All because you didn’t do anything to keep her safe.”

Mrs. Novak turned and walked away, leaving everyone else in a stunned silence. Once she was a safe enough distance away that she wouldn’t overhear him, Pellegrino said, “I’m sorry, Jensen. She’s wrong.”

Jensen waited a few seconds before responding. He looked at Pellegrino. “No she’s not.”

Jensen turned and walked away from the docks. Jared watched him go, unsure of what to do. Part of him wanted to follow Jensen and reassure him, but he knew Jensen probably needed some time alone after such an emotionally devastating encounter. The one thing he was sure of, though, was that he would help Jensen find the shark responsible so that Jensen would be revered as the town’s hero and not some heartless villain.


	8. Chapter 8

__

_7:30 p.m._

Jensen sat on his family room couch staring at the glass of whisky in his hand. Not for the first time, he relived the horror of watching the shredded raft drift ashore with the surf. His brain vividly replayed the look of grief on Mrs. Novak’s face when she’d confronted him. 

It didn’t matter if everyone’s livelihood was at stake. It was his job to protect the public, even in the face of adversity from his own townspeople. His gut was reliable. Past experiences had taught him that. It had gone against every instinct to listen to Pellegrino and not push to close the beaches. Yet he’d done it.

He drained his whisky and stood to get another. A knock at the front door surprised him. He opened the door to find Jared standing on his porch.

Jared held up both hands. In one, he held a large pizza. In the other, a bottle of red wine. “I had a hunch you haven’t eaten, so I brought provisions.”

Jensen stepped aside to allow Jared inside and then closed the door.

Jared turned to face him. “How you holding up?”

Jensen held up his empty whisky tumbler in response.

“Well you can’t drink alone. Let’s open this,” Jared said, waving the wine bottle.

Jensen led Jared to the kitchen. “Wine opener’s in that drawer,” he said, pointing. 

Jared opened the drawer and removed the corkscrew. While he worked on uncorking the wine, Jensen grabbed two plates and loaded them with slices of pizza.

“I hope supreme pizza is okay?”

“It’s good. Thanks for bringing dinner.”

“Anytime.”

They carried their plates and wine glasses into the dining room and settled into their chairs. Jensen took a bite of his pizza and watched as Jared plucked the black olives from his.

“You don’t like black olives?”

Jared shook his head and pulled another one off, adding it to the growing little pile.

“Why didn’t you just tell them no olives?”

Jared looked up from his task and smiled. “I didn’t know if you liked them or not. Figured I’d just take them off mine instead.”

Charmed, Jensen smiled and watched as Jared finally took a bite of his olive-less pizza. “I owe you an apology,” he said.

Jared frowned as he swallowed his bite. “For what?”

“I stranded you at the docks.”

“Nah, you didn’t. Chad was down there trying to make time with some girl. I hitched a ride to the house with him.”

“Still…I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you after—” he stopped short and waved his hand.

“No apology needed. I’m just sorry that happened.”

“I deserved it.”

“It wasn’t your fault. The Mayor and Town Council made the decision.”

“I could’ve done something. I was so worried about my job that I didn’t listen to my instincts.” Jensen looked over at Jared. Jared’s wire-rimmed glasses did nothing to hide his striking hazel eyes. Even in the dim light of the dining room, those eyes seemed to shift colors every time Jared turned his head. “I seem to be doing that a lot lately.”

“What? Worrying about your job?”

“Letting concern about my job dictate what I should or shouldn’t do.”

“I think that probably happens to a lot of people.”

Jensen took another long drink of wine. Whisky and wine coupled to make him warm and relaxed. “Speaking of jobs, how’d you get into yours?”

Jared finished chewing his bite and smiled. “When I was eleven, I was on vacation with my folks in Corpus Christi. I was fishing in a small boat when I hooked a baby thresher shark by mistake. The shark went crazy, of course, damaging the boat, the motor, everything. I panicked, jumped out, and swam back to the beach. I watched from shore as the shark proceeded to eat my boat. It scared me half to death. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated.”

Jensen smiled at Jared’s enthusiasm. “What brought you all the way here from Texas?”

Jared gave Jensen an assessing look and took a gulp of wine. “When I was eighteen, I told my parents I was gay. The next day, I went off on a research trip that lasted for six months. I figured that would give them some time to adjust to the news and give me time to do what I loved.”

Jensen’s eyes widened slightly at the revelation. He couldn’t speak for a few seconds out of shock. He couldn’t believe his luck. The most beautiful man he’d ever set eyes on was, in fact, gay. Finally he found his voice and managed to get out the words, “So…how did they take the news?”

“At first, they were pretty shocked. I misread their shock as disapproval, so I didn’t talk with them for a while after I left. But once I finally talked to them again, they were really supportive.”

“Does Chad know?”

Jared smiled. “Chad was the first person I told.”

“How’d he react?”

Letting out a soft chuckle, Jared answered, “His exact words were that if I ever tried to lay sugar on his sweet lips, he’d kick me in the nuts. Then he said he didn’t care who I got it on with, as long as I’d still be his best friend.”

Jensen huffed a laugh. “Must’ve been a relief.”

“It was. Gave me the courage to tell my parents. I figured if they ended up hating me, at least I’d still have Chad.”

Jensen felt a sudden spark of jealousy at the idea that Chad had known Jared for so many years. He wanted to know Jared better than anybody. “So you went off on a research trip for six months? What’s that like?”

“To be honest, it’s mostly boring. Long days on a boat where nothing happens. But then there are the days where I actually get to see or interact with sharks. That makes all those boring days worth it.”

Jensen slowly drained the rest of the wine from his glass and set it down again. “Seems like that might make it hard to have a relationship.”

Jared glanced at him and smiled. “Yeah, it does. I’m not really thinking about it too much, though. I’m pursuing my doctorate, so that’s my focus right now.”

Jensen nodded, trying not to look too excited to learn that Jared wasn’t dating anyone. “Already pursuing a doctorate at 23?”

Jared’s eyebrows winged up in surprise, and he flashed a grin at Jensen. “How do you know I’m 23?”

Jensen realized his mistake and flushed crimson. “I, uh, well, Chad told me y’all went to school together and I know he’s 23, so…” his voice trailed off and he shrugged.

Jared chuckled and looked down at his wine glass. “I’m still 22 for a few more days. I’ll be 23 on July 19th.”

“And already in a doctorate program? What school?”

“MIT has a joint program with Woods Hole. So I’m going for my doctorate in Biological Oceanography. I graduated at 21 and started the Joint Program.”  
  
“Wow, MIT. Impressive. How long will it take?”

“Five years.”

“Are you…do you stay at Woods Hole during that time?” asked Jensen, taking a sip of wine with the hope that it would make his question appear more casual.

Jared grinned. “Yeah, I get to stay there full-time while I’m enrolled.”

“Genevieve mentioned you’re the best marine biologist at the Institute. I’m impressed that she’d say that when you’re still in school. No offense, but I’d have thought Woods Hole has a bunch of experts with degrees floating around.”

“Well,” Jared answered with a slight blush, “that’s just it. A lot of them _are_ floating around. Literally. They’re away on research trips a lot. So, you got me.”

Jensen’s eyes narrowed as he assessed Jared’s comment. “Hm. I don’t know. I think even if there were no research trips, you’d still be the best person to have around.”

“You’re just saying that because I helped you pick out excellent paint brushes,” Jared said with a chuckle.

Jensen laughed with him. “You do know how to pick out a good brush.”

They finished their pizza slices and Jensen got up to get them second helpings.

As he sat back down and handed Jared another full plate, he said, “Genevieve also told me you’re leaving soon on another expedition. When are you heading out?”

“I’m scheduled to head out on the _Ariel_ in two days. A couple of months at sea with other crazy shark addicts till the fall semester starts.”

“Two days?”

Jared nodded, and Jensen hid his disappointment at this news by pouring himself more wine. “That doesn’t give us much time to wrap this up,” he said in an effort to change the subject back to the task at hand. “Do you think this shark will leave the area on its own?”

“I’d love to tell you yes. But I think as long as there’s a steady food supply, Amity will have a problem.”

Jensen sighed heavily. “Then let’s have one more drink and go down and cut that shark open.”


	9. Chapter 9

_9:00 p.m._

The old warehouse adjacent to the main docks was empty at this time of night, so the two men had the large storage area to themselves. Jensen watched as Jared squatted in front of the tiger shark corpse on the floor and rammed a sharp knife into the shark’s belly. He took two quick steps back when milky white liquid gushed onto the floor of the warehouse.

“Oh, Jesus! That’s the nastiest thing I’ve ever smelled,” he said, pulling his tee shirt up to cover his nose. It didn’t work to alleviate the stench, but it made him feel better.

Jared chuckled and squatted again. “Try being down here.” He finished his slice down the shark’s midsection and reached inside.

“Tiger sharks are notorious for eating almost anything.” With that, Jared pulled a dented paint can from the shark’s belly and tossed it toward Jensen.

Jensen sidestepped the bouncing metal can and watched as Jared plunged his hands into the shark again, this time up to his elbows.

“Yep. Just as I thought,” said Jared, grunting with effort. “It came up from Southern waters.” He withdrew a Louisiana license plate from the shark and threw it beside the paint can.

“Great,” Jensen said dryly. “He didn’t eat a car, did he?”

Jared sat back on the floor, breathing heavily. “That’s it. No remains.”

“I’ll call Pellegrino. We need to close the beaches.”

“You’ve got a bigger problem than that, Jensen. You’ve still got a hell of a fish out there. With mouth about this big.” Jared spread his hands about three feet apart to demonstrate the size.

“How do I confirm that by morning?”

Jared stood up and motioned Jensen to follow. “Given the attacks so far, we’ve got a good chance of spotting it between Cape Scott and South Beach.”

“Where are you going?” asked Jensen, hurrying to catch up with Jared’s long strides.

“I’m gonna find it right now. It's a night feeder.”

“On the water?” Dread tripped down Jensen’s spine.

“Well, if we’re looking for a shark, we’re not gonna find him on land.”

“Yeah, but I’m not drunk enough to go out on a boat!” Jensen exclaimed, trotting down a set of wooden steps after Jared.

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“I can’t do that.”

Jared grinned at Jensen and patted his back. “Yes you can.” He took Jensen’s arm and pulled him toward Jared’s car.

***~*~*~***

_9:30 p.m._

Jensen closed his eyes and leaned his head back as he sat on the bench. Jared sat to his left and drove the boat. It was a sizable craft, not enormous but certainly nicer than many of the boats Jensen had seen around the island.

“You all right?”

“Fine,” Jensen replied without opening his eyes. “Just haven’t been out on a boat in a very long time.”

“You live on the island but never go out on a boat?”

“I don’t like being on the water. Or in it.”

Jared was quiet for a few moments. Then: “Mind if I ask why?”

Jensen didn’t answer right away, so Jared thought he might’ve asked too personal a question. Finally, though, Jensen cleared his throat. “When I was ten, my best friend Steve and I went on a beach vacation with his family. He drowned in the ocean.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”  
  
“That’s not something you ever forget.”

Jensen shrugged and sighed. “One minute he was here. The next he wasn’t. I never went in the water again.”

Jared was quiet for several minutes. Then: “So what brought a guy who hates water to an island?“

“It’s only an island if you look at it from the water.”

“ _That_ makes a lot of sense,” answered Jared sarcastically.

“I was in the Army till I was 21. I decided I wanted to be a cop, but I didn’t want to live in Texas. I liked the…” he paused, trying to find the right words, “diverse population in New York City.”

“Texas was a little small-minded for you?” surmised Jared.

“Unfortunately, yes. And at that time, I wanted to see more of the world, too. I had traveled a bit with the Army, so I didn’t want to go back to small town life at that point.”

“New York is about as opposite of a small town as you can get.”

Jensen nodded. “It was exactly what I wanted at the time. But then the job just wore me down. It’s hard to keep faith in humanity when you see the worst of it every single day.”

“I can’t even imagine. There’s a reason I love sea life,” replied Jared with a wry grin. 

Jensen glanced over at Jared’s smile. Dim light emanated from the equipment in front of them, just enough so Jensen could see Jared’s tantalizing dimples. He sighed appreciatively. The alcohol warmed him nicely and made him much more talkative than he would’ve normally been.

“Anyway, Mayor Pellegrino called me and offered me this job last August. I moved here after Labor Day.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did Pellegrino even know about you? You seem pretty young to be Chief of Police.”

“You can always ask me anything at all,” Jensen answered before he could censor himself. 

When his fuzzy brain registered what he’d said, Jensen sat up a little straighter and took another sip of wine. “Um, he read an article in the newspaper about something that happened in the city, and called me to talk about the open position.”

Jared glanced at him. “Do you not want to tell me what was in the newspaper, or are you being too modest to tell me?”

Jensen chuckled and took another sip of wine. “There was a hostage situation. I got lucky and took down a few bad guys.”

Jared’s mouth fell open. “A _few_ bad guys? All by yourself? And you saved the hostages?”

“Fortunately, yes. No casualties except the guys responsible.”

“Far out, man! And you got your name in the paper?”

Jensen nodded. “That’s when Pellegrino called.”

“Just because of an article in the paper?”

Jensen huffed a laugh. “Are you always so curious?”

Jared laughed with him. “Yes, I am. Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, no. I meant it earlier when I said you can always ask me anything.”

Jared stopped the boat and turned sideways on the bench seat, leaning forward until his hands nearly touched Jensen’s knees. “Like…” he said softly, his voice trailing off. Then, even softer: “The reason you found Texas so small-minded?”

Jensen swallowed hard. Jared was close enough that Jensen could smell his shampoo. He couldn’t explain why, but he’d felt a deep connection with Jared from the moment he first saw him in the water. Something about him drew Jensen inexorably closer, making him want to share his secrets. “What makes you think there’s any one reason?”

Jared’s tongue darted out to wet his lips. His forearms rested on his knees, his hands folded together. “You’ve slowed down or stopped jogging every morning for the last five days to watch me surf.”

Jensen’s face flamed and he looked down at his shoes. “Well, uh, I’ve never seen anyone surf.”

Jared reached out with a fingertip beneath Jensen’s chin, raising his eyes to meet Jared’s. He whispered, “I’m not that good a surfer.”

Jensen laughed softly, his blush still warming his cheeks. “Was it that obvious?”

Jared smiled. “No, just wishful thinking at first. It wasn’t until the general store that I really started to wonder.” He leaned forward and placed a feather-light kiss on the tip of Jensen’s nose. 

Jensen’s heart thundered at the feel of Jared’s lips, even though the contact was so brief. He couldn’t believe his body’s visceral reaction to Jared’s closeness. If a tiny kiss on his nose could do that, Jensen wondered what would happen if they actually had sex. The image of his hard dick sliding into Jared’s ass flashed across his brain, and Jensen suddenly pictured himself being hauled off in an ambulance from cardiac arrest.

Jensen cleared his throat and shook his head slightly to clear away the embarrassing vision. He smiled and said, “You have good instincts.”

Jared beamed, his whole face lighting up. His dimples came out full force again, and even in the shadows, his mercurial hazel eyes sparkled. There was something else there, too, something Jensen didn’t recognize. All he knew for sure was that he wanted to put that same expression on Jared’s face again and again.

Before he could second-guess himself, Jensen leaned closer. His body seemed to know exactly what to do, even with his mind buzzing from all the whisky and wine. Jared slowly pushed forward again as well, and their lips met in a gentle kiss.

Adrenalin shot through his veins when Jensen’s mouth brushed against Jared’s. He pressed closer and touched Jared’s soft hair. His tongue urged Jared’s mouth to part. Cradling Jared’s face in his hands, he delved into the sweetness he’d been longing to taste. It was even better than he’d imagined.

A loud beep from the equipment startled them apart. Jared turned toward the series of screens installed behind the driver’s bench, and then stood to look out at the water.

“What is it?”

Jared answered, “Probably just a school of mackerel or something.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re right in the stretch where he’s been feeding.”

Jensen glanced at the small screens on board. “You get _The Late Show_ on this thing?”

Jared chuckled. “No, it’s a closed-circuit TV system. I’ve got underwater cameras fore and aft.”

“Who pays for all this stuff? The government? The institute? This stuff’s expensive.”

“Well, I, uh…I pay for this mostly myself actually.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No.”

Nodding, Jensen took another swig of wine.

When another several beeps split the quiet, Jared said, “There’s something else out there.” After consulting the screen again, he pointed ahead. “About 100 yards south-southwest.”

Jared put the boat in gear again and they moved forward slowly until their spotlights picked up a weathered green boat with red and yellow trim.

“That’s Gordon Walker’s boat.”

“You know him?” asked Jared.

“Sure I know him. He’s a fisherman. It’s all banged up.”

They pulled closer where their lights could make out some details.

“What happened?” whispered Jensen, amazed that the boat was still floating as damaged as it was.

“Jensen, I’ve gotta go down there and check the hull.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. Let’s just tow it all in so we can have a closer look.”

“We will. I just need to check something out first.”

Before Jensen could argue further, Jared stood up and moved to the back of the boat. He started rummaging through a duffel bag and pulled out his wetsuit.

Jensen glanced at the damaged boat again and back to Jared, who now was pulling off his shirt and unbuttoning his jeans. His brain wanted to slow down and appreciate the muscled glory of Jared’s shirtless chest and shoulders, but his adrenalin and worry had other ideas.

“Jared, wait. You shouldn’t go down there alone. What if…what if something happens to you?”

Jared pulled his jeans and underwear off, showing no signs of discomfort. Jensen, on the other hand, gawked at the complete lack of modesty. Then again, he supposed, if he had a body built like Jared’s, he probably wouldn’t feel too modest either. He was struck speechless by the curve of muscle in Jared’s thighs and calves. Long, lean, sinuous muscle that begged for Jensen’s tongue to lick every curve and valley.

He turned his back to give Jared privacy and also to prevent sprouting an erection that wouldn’t be hidden by his jeans.

“Don’t worry about me, Jensen. Nothing’s gonna happen. Just taking a quick peek is all.”

A few minutes later, Jared had donned his wetsuit and had his scuba mask at the ready.

“What should I do while you’re gone?”

“Nothing. Please don’t touch any of the equipment.”

Jensen frowned again at the idea of Jared getting into the water. “C’mon, let’s just tow it in.”

“Just hold the light for me, okay? I’ll be back in two minutes.”

Jared swung his long legs over the side of the boat, took a deep breath, and dropped into the water.

***~*~*~*~***

Jared blinked behind his mask, trying to adjust to the darkness. It was pitch black beneath the surface, the only light shining from his large underwater flashlight. He swam quickly over to the boat and examined it. Finding no significant damage on the port side, he dove deeper and swam under the boat. Shining his flashlight up and down the hull, he didn’t see any damage that would’ve caused the ship to founder. 

He swam to the starboard side. There, he spotted a jagged hole in the hull.

Upon closer inspection, Jared noticed a white tooth embedded at the lower edge of the hole. Using his knife, he pried the tooth from the wood. He held the flashlight against it and marveled at its size. It was easily three inches long, maybe longer. The tooth was the largest Jared had ever seen, bigger than any sharks he’d encountered during his past expeditions. _Definitely a great white shark, no question_. He turned his attention back to the hole, wondering if he might find another tooth. 

Just as his flashlight illuminated the hole again, Gordon Walker’s head rolled out of the hole less than a foot in front of Jared’s face. He screamed, the sound muffled underwater. Gordon’s severed head was missing an eye, its facial expression frozen in the terror of his last moments. Adrenalin burst through his system, causing Jared to jerk wildly. He dropped his flashlight, knife, and the shark tooth in his frantic scramble to swim above water again.

Jared broke the surface and gulped air, gasping in shock. 

Jensen leaned over the side and extended his hand. “What happened?” he asked, his voice indicating that he was on high alert and checking for signs of danger. “Are you all right?”

Jared couldn’t answer. He was still trying to get a deep breath as he struggled to climb the ladder and get back on board.

“Jesus, Jensen,” he finally managed. “Gordon is dead.”

“Christ Almighty,” whispered Jensen. He carefully helped Jared to sit, and then dropped heavily onto the seat beside him.


	10. Chapter 10

__

_11:45 p.m._

After the boat wreckage was towed in and all the official phone calls and notes had been made, Jensen looked over at Jared. He was sitting quietly in a chair beside Jensen’s desk at the police station, drinking some hot chocolate.

“How you doing?” asked Jensen in a soft voice.

“I’ll be all right.”

“C’mon. I’ll take you home.” Jensen stood up started toward the office door.

Jared caught his arm as he walked by. “Your house?” Jared whispered.

Jensen studied Jared’s face. His beautiful features were drawn and pale, and there were shadows beneath his striking hazel eyes. Normally, Jensen would have refused such a request. Amity was too small a town to risk the gossip. But this was Jared, and he looked like hell. Jensen wanted to smooth away the worries from Jared’s face. It didn’t hurt that having Jared at his house might help keep Jensen’s own demons at bay.

“You sure?” Jensen whispered back.

Jared nodded and stood, then walked quickly out the door before Jensen could change his mind.

***~*~*~*~***

Jared could hardly believe his day had started on the docks formally meeting Jensen for the first time. A day that had started out so promising had ended as badly as he could imagine. All Jared could think about as he opened the passenger door of the police truck was trying to give himself something good to hold onto before he finally drifted off to sleep.

It wasn’t like Jared hadn’t seen dead bodies before. He’d seen terrible shark-related injuries in his line of work. But he’d never come face to face with it in the marine element. His encounters with injuries or corpses had always been confined to a hospital or laboratory setting. Having a severed head suddenly appear while he was investigating a boat wreck was a new—and very unnerving—experience.

Once they were both in Jensen’s truck and headed to the house, Jensen asked him, “What sort of music do you like?” He fiddled with the radio dial. “Besides David Bowie.”

Jared’s eyebrows shot up. “How do you know I like Bowie?”

“You, ah, were wearing a Bowie tee shirt at the store the other day.”

Jared let out a soft laugh. He was thrilled that Jensen had noticed—and even remembered--what he was wearing. “Oh, yeah. That’s right, I was. I saw him in Rochester last summer on his _Diamond Dogs_ tour. It was an incredible show. I’ve never seen a stage set up like that before.”

“I know a few of his songs. Do you have a favorite?”

“Too many. I like all kinds of music, though. It really depends on my mood.”

“I’m the same way. I don’t get much chance to listen to the radio, though.”

Jared found that his insatiable curiosity always ramped up 100 times stronger around Jensen. “So what do you do for fun on Amity Island if you hate the water?”

Jensen chuckled. “There _are_ other things to do here besides water activities.”

“All right, lay it on me.”

“I go bowling occasionally, maybe check out a movie now and again. And I’m a regular at the shooting range.”

“The shooting range practically counts as work for you, y’know.”

“No, it doesn’t. It relaxes me.”

Jared laughed. “Shooting relaxes you?”

“Hey, don’t knock it till you try it,” Jensen answered with a chuckle. “It’s a great way to blow off steam,” replied Jensen, pulling into his driveway.

Jensen parked the truck and glanced over at him. Jared’s breath caught in his throat. He’d wanted Jensen since first laying eyes on him. Now that they’d shared secrets and spent a handful of hours together, that feeling had grown exponentially. He knew this whole thing was sudden and inconvenient. Both of their careers could be put at risk if the town found out about any sort of romantic attachment between them. Somehow, though, when Jensen looked at him with those stunning green eyes, Jared found it impossible to care.

Jared told him in a hushed voice, “I know a better way to blow off steam.”

Jensen cleared his throat. “Is that right?”

“Mmmhmm. Take me inside and I’ll be happy to show you.”

Jensen threw open the driver’s door and walked briskly to the porch, digging in his pants pocket for his housekey as he went. Jared chuckled and opened his own door, hurrying to catch up.


	11. Chapter 11

__

_11:59 p.m._

Jensen flipped on the light in his bedroom and led Jared inside. Without preamble, they both fell into a passionate kiss. Jensen moved his mouth along Jared’s warm, smooth neck, nipping gently. When Jared moaned his encouragement, Jensen laved the hollow at the base of his throat with his tongue. Jared smelled like soap and something else indefinable. Something uniquely Jared. Jensen buried his nose at the nape of Jared’s neck and inhaled the intoxicating scent of his skin and hair. His hands roamed down Jared’s back to his ass and he pulled him tightly against his hips.

Jared’s hands plucked at Jensen’s shirt. Jensen took the hint and pulled away long enough to quickly strip down to his boxers. He tugged at Jared’s shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it across the room. 

He paused to appreciate the expanse of bare, tanned skin across Jared’s chest. Dipping his head, he kissed Jared’s chest while caressing his stomach with the backs of his fingers.

Jared moaned again and whispered, “I love having your hands on me.”

“I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I saw you in the water.”

“You know...that first time I saw you, I thought you were a mirage.”

Jensen chuckled against Jared’s chest and nipped him playfully. “A mirage?” he asked. 

An attractive pink suffused Jared’s cheeks. “I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful in all my life. I thought for sure you had to be a mirage.”

It was Jensen’s turn to blush as he lowered himself to his knees and unfastened Jared’s pants, pulling them down along with his boxers. Jared toed off his shoes, stepped out of the pants, and Jensen pushed everything aside. 

Jensen let out a soft whoosh of appreciation at his first glimpse of Jared’s cock. He couldn’t wait to get his mouth on it, but he was woefully out of practice. Nervousness skittered through him. “I haven’t been with anyone in a very long time.”

“Me, either.”

Jensen reached up and stroked Jared’s half-hard cock. “Is this okay?”

“More than okay.”

“It’s like riding a bike, right?”

“I remember it being a lot bumpier than that,” Jared teased him.

Jensen chuckled. “Only if we’re doing it right.” He winked at Jared and leaned forward to kiss the head of Jared’s cock. Precome glistened at the tip, so Jensen sucked very gently to clean it off. The tang of it hit his tongue and he slid his mouth down the shaft. He wanted the thickness and weight to fill his mouth. 

Jared gasped and buried his hands in Jensen’s short hair. “Jesus,” he whispered. 

Jensen sucked Jared’s dick deep, letting the head of it fill his throat until he nearly choked. He held it for a second and then slowly drew his mouth back up before plunging down again.

When he pulled off again, Jensen motioned Jared to the bed and waited until he lay down, then settled himself between Jared’s legs to continue.

Jared groaned when he resumed his sucking, so Jensen doubled his pace. Jensen pressed his own hard dick against the mattress as he pulled Jared’s cock deeper into his mouth. Every time the tip lodged in his throat, Jensen mimicked a swallowing motion to stimulate it further. Jared whimpered in pleasure and lifted his hips in time with Jensen’s sucking. With every thrust of Jared's hips, Jensen rutted against the mattress to relieve the building pressure in his own dick.

Jensen knew it wouldn’t be long when Jared’s balls drew tight and he pumped his hips erratically against Jensen’s mouth. Instead of pulling off, Jensen held the thick cock deep and pressed his fingertip at the pucker of Jared’s ass, wriggling it and nudging it inside.

Jared cried out as his orgasm shook him. His cock throbbed wildly and Jensen held on as it emptied down his throat. The sounds Jared made were such a turn on that Jensen’s own cock spurted its appreciation inside his boxers.

After swallowing and catching his breath, Jensen moved to lie alongside Jared. He draped his arm across his stomach and kissed the tip of his nose.

“Oh my God,” Jared said with a sigh. “You must've been exaggerating about how long it's been for you. You're obviously an expert.”

Jensen chuckled and pulled Jared closer against him. “No. But I have been imagining what it would be like for about a week."

"I’m not sure I could walk right now even if I wanted to.”

"Then I guess you'd better stay overnight." Jensen kissed Jared's temple and stood up to get a towel so they could clean themselves up before sleeping.


	12. Chapter 12

__

_Wednesday, July 2, 1975  
_ _6:00 p.m.  
_ _Jensen’s House_

Jensen forked another shrimp. “I can’t believe what a great cook you are. This is delicious.”

“Thank you. Mom always said that girls would be impressed by a guy who can cook.”

Jensen finished chewing and replied, “Well, you tell your momma that boys are impressed, too.” He speared a piece of buttered asparagus and ate it.

After a few minutes of eating in silence, Jared said, “I still can’t believe what happened earlier. How can Pellegrino justify keeping the beaches open after what happened yesterday? What other proof does that idiot need?”

“I know. At least he gave me approval for extra deputies, so I’ve hired a few guys who can help us patrol the beaches tomorrow and through the holiday. Some volunteers from town will be on the beaches and out on the water to watch for any sign of the shark.”

“Beats nothing, I guess.” Jared took a sip of wine and smiled. “I promise not to talk shop anymore. We need a relaxing night after our rough day.”

“Agreed. I’d love to hear more about your research trip when you were 18.”

“I was on a ship called _Empty Pockets_ with a team of seven other researchers in the Gulf of Mexico. We were researching bull shark hunting and migration behaviors along the coastal rivers.”

Jensen chuckled. “I love the boat name. How big was the ship?”

Jared pondered a moment and answered, “I’d say it was about 28 meters, which would be around 91 feet.”

“Did you get your own cabin, or did you have to share?”

“We only had four cabins, so we assigned two people per room.”

“Were there women aboard or was it just men?”

Jared chuckled. “Now who’s being curious?”

“It’s the wine,” replied Jensen with a self-conscious grin. “Sorry.”

“No, I love it.” Then: “All men.”

Jensen ate another shrimp and tried to imagine spending months in a small cabin sleeping with Jared next to him. “Was it hard to be in such close proximity in the same room with someone for that long?”

“Nah, my roommate was a nice guy and we got along great. Steven Amell.”  
  
It was difficult for Jensen to imagine Jared _not_ getting along with anyone. “Did you know him before you signed up for the trip?”

“No. We met the first day we set sail. Everyone drew numbers for cabin assignments because we didn’t really know each other.”

“Did he snore?”

Jared laughed. “Thankfully, no.” He paused and then added, “Steven was a nice guy. He signed up for the Joint Program with me, actually, but…” Jared’s voice trailed off, and then he said, “he quit and went back home.”

Jensen’s cop instinct tingled. “What happened to make him quit?”

Jared looked up. “He wanted a relationship and I didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Partially because I worried that if anyone found out about any relationship with him it might affect my placement in the program. But mostly because he just didn’t interest me romantically.”

“Ah. Did he have warts on his face? Was he prematurely bald?”

Laughing, Jared shook his head. “He’s quite a hunk, in fact. With big blue eyes.”

“Ohh, so you _wanted_ someone prematurely balding with warts on his face?”

“Yes,” Jared deadpanned, but then broke into a grin that showcased those irresistible dimples. 

Jensen chuckled and sipped his wine.

“Actually, I’m partial to green eyes.”

Jensen’s heart jiggled in his chest at the comment. He smiled at Jared and replied, “What a coincidence. I’m partial to men who can cook.”

“Lucky me.”

They were quiet for a few minutes as they ate the rest of their supper together. 

Once Jared had finished his last bite of potato, he asked, “How come you haven't had a boyfriend in such a long time?”

Jensen shrugged. “You know how it is. First I was in the military, and you can imagine the risk of any relationship in that setting.” When Jared nodded, Jensen continued, “When I got to New York, I was concentrating so much on work and advancing my career that I didn’t really even think about relationships. The job was grueling. Most days I worked overtime.”

“No opportunities to date another cop? Someone who might understand the cop life?”

Jensen shook his head. “The New York City Police Department, despite being in a more diverse area, is still a lot like the military when it comes to same-sex relationships. It’s just way too risky to tell anyone you prefer men, or nobody will want to work with you and you get burned.”

“That stinks. I guess I understand why you’d be worried about it.” Then: “But doesn’t New York have clubs you could go to or something?”

“Sure,” said Jensen. “But I wasn’t interested. I wasn’t looking to just fool around with strangers. If I’m going to take a risk, I want the reward to be worth it.”

Jared blushed. “I agree.”

Jensen stared at Jared for a few moments, then stood up with his plate. “I’ll do the dishes. You go relax in the family room.”  
  
“I can help,” said Jared as he stood with his own plate in hand.

“No. You cooked. I’ll take care of these. It won’t take long.”

Jensen finished washing the dishes and brought fresh glasses of wine to the family room. They sat on the sofa and talked for another hour before their lingering looks got too heated and demanded action. Then they retired to Jensen's bedroom for the night.


	13. Chapter 13

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_Thursday, July 3, 1975  
_ _2:00 p.m._

Jensen lifted his binoculars and did a sweep of the oceanfront from his position on the beach. His team of deputies and volunteers had been out for hours with nothing to show for it. The beaches were packed with tourists, and the water was full of swimmers who showed no signs of fear.

“Red One, Red One,” Jensen’s walkie-talkie fired. It was DJ. “Jensen, get people the hell out of the water as fast as you can. Fin!”

The lifeguard on the nearby tower heard the warning and stood up. He blew his whistle long and loud. Another lifeguard used a megaphone and began broadcasting for people to get out of the water.

“No whistles!” Jensen exclaimed, but it was too late. Swimmers poured out of the water in droves. Jensen ran to the water to try and calm the panicked crowd, but there were too many of them. People splashed and shoved and screamed as they raced to get out of the ocean.

Despite his efforts, pandemonium ensued for the next few minutes. An elderly man got trampled by overanxious swimmers, and Jensen ran to help him. Jensen pulled the man up onto the beach out of harm’s way and then assisted another woman who had also been knocked down by the surging crowd. 

“Move back,” he ordered the onlookers who stood nearest to the prone man and woman. “Give these people some air. Step back.”

Jensen’s walkie-talkie came alive again. “Jensen, it’s just a hoax. There are two kids here with a cardboard fin. Is everyone there okay? Did everyone get out of the water all right?”

Jensen pushed the button and responded, “Mostly, DJ, yeah.” Then: “Jared, where are you?”

Jared answered over the walkie-talkie: “I’m in my motorboat patrolling along the beach. Haven’t seen anything down to the south. I’m heading over to the estuary.”

“Ten-four.”

Jensen clipped his walkie-talkie to his belt. Paramedics were approaching, so he waved them over and then knelt down to reassure the man and woman that help was on its way.

***~*~*~*~***

Jared swept his eyes back and forth along the shoreline for any signs of the shark but found nothing. He steered his motorboat into the estuary to check it out. He didn’t really expect that he’d find the shark in this location since the ratio of freshwater would be much greater than out in the open sea, but he wanted to make sure he checked everywhere in his search. The mayor’s snide words from the day before still stung: _You’d love to prove there’s a giant shark, wouldn’t you? Get your name in the papers?_

Jared shook his head to clear it. There was no sense getting riled up all over again. He’d talked with Genevieve earlier that morning and told her that there was no need for him to leave on the _Ariel_ ’s expedition when there was a great white shark right there on Amity for him to study. Jared didn’t tell her his other reason for wanting to cancel his trip—the reason with sparkling green eyes and adorable freckles across his nose and cheeks.

A group of boisterous young boys caught Jared’s attention. He saw them sitting in their sailboat bent over working on tying knots. There was an older man in a rowboat nearby watching them. 

“Tie me a sheepshank,” the man called out.

The boys all began working on the requested knot, so Jared figured the man must be a Boy Scout leader or some other sort of sailing teacher. He slowly motored by and gave the man a wave, then turned his attention back to the water to look for any signs of trouble. 

The sun was blazing and the sky was clear. Jared took a deep breath of the salt-tinged air. Temperatures around Amity were rarely unbearable in the summertime, and that afternoon was no different. It was hard to imagine anything dangerous lurking beneath such a calm, glassy surface on such a gorgeous day.

“Shark! There’s a shark in the pond!”

Jared’s pulse jumped at the loud warning. He scanned the area for the source of the warning and saw a young woman on the shore pointing wildly behind him. He followed her finger and saw a dorsal fin rising from the surface right near the man in the rowboat. 

Jared revved the engine and turned around, making his way as fast as possible back toward the rowboat. He watched in horror as the shark sped directly toward the man from behind, so he was completely oblivious. Jared shouted, “Shark!” at the man to get him to turn around, but it was too late. 

The shark rammed the small rowboat, upending it in the water. The shark continued forward and crashed into the underside of the sailboat, too, which knocked all three boys into the pond.

Jared was only about ten yards away when the man shrieked in terror and was pulled underwater. The surface of the ocean churned crimson and Jared’s heart sank.

Jared moved his boat as close as he could to the boys while still keeping them safe from the outboard motor. He reached down and dragged the first boy aboard. As the second boy pulled himself into Jared’s boat at the same time, Jared noticed the third boy too far out to reach.

The dorsal fin broke the surface again and Jared saw the shark circling his boat and the boy in the water. He motored closer but didn’t want to go too fast or he’d fly right by the kid. 

“Swim toward me!” urged Jared, trying to close the distance. The boy didn’t respond. He looked completely dazed and didn’t move. 

Jared was just reaching down to pull the boy into the boat when the shark bumped the motorboat, rocking it violently. The two boys onboard shrieked and held on tightly, but Jared was off-balance in mid-reach. The impact sent him flailing into the pond behind the boy.

Jared scrambled to the surface and blinked the salt from his eyes to get his bearings. The boy was a few feet away, so he swam as fast as he could to the boy. 

“I gotcha,” he said, panting with exertion as he pushed the boy toward the motorboat. Shoving him over the side and safely aboard, Jared then reached up to get himself back in his boat.

The boys all shouted in unison, “Shark!” and pointed behind Jared. He whirled around and saw a large, dark shape directly in front of him, moving fast. He closed his eyes expecting the worst. The shark hit him hard in the midsection, but its lethal jaws had missed. Instead, the side of the shark had struck Jared as it swam by. The huge force of the impact knocked Jared’s head and cheek into the side of the motorboat. He yelped in pain but recovered fast, and hauled himself into the boat as fast as he could. He hit the floor of the boat and grabbed the tiller, speeding toward the shore. 

A crowd of people was waiting when Jared’s boat hit the sand, and several onlookers helped to get the boys and Jared safely out of the boat.

It wasn’t until he was laid on his back on the sand that he realized the strong hands holding him belonged to Jensen.

“Hi,” he croaked out a whisper. Jensen’s uniform looked darker than usual, and Jared suddenly realized why. It was wet.  
  
“Jesus, Jared,” said Jensen, his voice low and hoarse with panic. “What the hell happened? Did it bite you?” His fingers pulled at Jared’s shirt and ripped it open.

“No, no,” Jared assured him. “I’m okay.” His head was fuzzy and Jensen looked a little blurred. "You're wet."

“Why the fuck are you bleeding?” demanded Jensen. “Jesus Christ. What happened?”

“’Sokay, Jensen. Just denticles.” The annoying buzz of the crowd was fading a bit.

“Denticles? What the—Jared?! Jared stay with me!”

Jensen’s hands were in his hair, and Jared’s last thought was that it should feel much nicer than it did.


	14. Chapter 14

_5:00 p.m._

Jensen watched Jared sleep in the hospital bed and rubbed his face in frustration. Another day with yet another casualty, and he couldn’t reach Pellegrino. Jensen counted to ten to calm himself. Every time he thought about what could’ve happened to Jared, his blood boiled. Every time he thought of the shark’s victims, he wanted to strangle Pellegrino.

“You look really pissed.”

Jensen’s gaze shifted from the IV bag to Jared’s face. The dimples he so loved were displayed for his enjoyment, and he suddenly had to blink back the sting in his eyes. Relief swept over him like a tidal wave, and he dropped his forehead to Jared’s arm.

“What the hell is a denticle?” he asked, his head still bowed.

Jared chuckled. “Really? That’s the first question you ask me?”

Jensen held Jared’s hand gently in his. “Yes.” He looked up again. “I want to know why your stomach looks like it was attacked by a cheese grater.”

“Great white sharks have sharp scales called dermal denticles. When they bump potential prey, depending on the speed of the impact, these scales can cause damage.” 

“Jesus,” Jensen breathed out, and rested his forehead on Jared’s arm again. “So the shark just bumped you and did all that.”

“It felt more like a collision with a Mack truck, but yeah.”

“Tell me everything.”

Jensen listened intently as Jared described his harrowing experience. His gut tightened with each passing description until Jared finished his story. 

“You’re a damn hero, Jared.”

“Heroes save people.”

“You did save people—three boys owe you their lives.”

“I didn’t save everyone. I watched that man fall into the water and—” his voice trailed off, and Jensen gripped Jared’s hand tighter.

“Listen to me. Most people would’ve run for their lives seeing that shark anywhere around, and you headed right for it to save those boys. It’s not your fault about the man. You couldn’t reach him in time.”

Jared squeezed Jensen's hand. "How about you tell me why you were soaked when I saw you on the beach?"

"I went into the water to haul you out of the boat."

Jared raised his eyebrows in surprise. " _You_ went into the water?"

Chuckling, Jensen nodded. "I guess I had a momentary lapse of reason."

Lifting Jensen's hand to his lips, Jared kissed it. "Thank you."

“You're welcome." He squeezed jared's hand. "I want you to get some rest. I’m going to hunt down Pellegrino right now and get him to sign the contract to hire Morgan.”

“I’m going on the hunt with you.”

“Like hell you are. You’re in the damn hospital, Jared. You’re in no condition to go shark hunting.”

“I’ll be released shortly and ready to go in the morning.”

Jensen noted the stubborn set of Jared’s jaw. He hadn’t known the man long, but he knew that with Jared’s passion for shark study, it’d be nearly impossible to dissuade him from the trip. He sighed softly. “All right.”

“Thank you,” Jared said with his usual wide grin. 

Jensen glanced around to make sure nobody was passing the room, then leaned down and brushed a soft kiss to Jared’s lips. “Back soon, I promise.”


	15. Chapter 15

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_Friday, July 4, 1975_   
_6:00 a.m._

The next morning, Jared stepped gingerly onto the dock with his bag filled with scuba gear, strychnine nitrate, and shark dart. His stomach was sore and still tender from his encounter with the shark, so he was careful not to haul anything too heavy and risk damaging his equipment. Jensen had both of their duffle bags with clothing and toiletries and was carting those aboard the _Orca_.

He stopped and looked at the ship when they reached its berth. The vessel didn’t inspire a huge amount of confidence. The _Orca_ looked like a basic lobster boat, although it did have both a main deck and a quarterdeck. Jared eyed the weathered wood and faded paint and wondered if they’d be better off using his own boat. Jensen had asked him about the size of the shark, but Jared didn’t have a real sense of its size, even after being struck by it. It was big, yes, and fast. Its bite radius told him that they weren’t dealing with a small shark. But most great whites were large, so that didn’t help much. Everything had happened so quickly the day before that he couldn’t remember all the details. 

After all the rumors Jared had heard about Captain Jeff Morgan, he assumed there’d be little point in him offering up his own vessel for the hunt. Jensen had warned Jared that Morgan was a surly sailor with a stubborn streak, so Jared surmised Morgan wouldn’t take too kindly to any criticism of his boat. As long as it got them where they were going, Jared figured they’d be fine. He carefully stepped onto the boat. 

After taking some aspirin earlier, his pain was at a manageable level. Still, he tread carefully across the wet deck. A purple and blue bruise had bloomed on his temple and cheekbone overnight. He’d treated his abdominal abrasions with antibiotic ointment and made sure to wrap everything up tightly, so his injuries weren’t impeding him too much so far. He looked around but didn’t see Morgan or Jensen yet. He headed to the cabin he’d be sharing with Jensen.

“You look like you went twelve rounds with a block of cement,” Jensen commented as he came up from behind and passed Jared to place their bags on the bed in the cabin. There were only two rooms aboard the _Orca_ , and tiny ones at that. Jared guessed their cabin to be about 7’ x 7’. Just enough room for one double bed and a very small chest of drawers.

Jared chuckled. “It looks worse than it feels.”

“If it didn’t, you wouldn’t tell me anyway.”

“I appreciate you worrying about me, but I’m really okay.”

Jensen eyed him for a moment, then said, “All right, tough guy. I’m going back to the truck to get the last of our things. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Jensen left, and Jared unzipped his duffle bag to begin unpacking. He opened one of the small compartments in the chest and placed his rolled jeans and a sweatshirt into the drawer.

“Settling in okay?” a gruff voice asked from behind him.

Jared started in surprise at the unfamiliar voice and whirled around. Jeff Morgan leaned against the door jamb with his arms folded across his chest. The _Orca_ ’s captain was tall and fit with black hair and piercing green eyes. He appeared to be in his early forties, but he looked older. His tanned skin showed the weathered signs of making his living beneath the harsh sun despite the fishing cap on his head. He wore black jeans with an untucked blue denim shirt. The green military jacket covering the denim shirt had “Morgan” printed on a frayed patch above the right chest pocket. 

“Oh, hey. Jared Padalecki,” he said, extending his hand to Morgan.

Morgan stepped forward to shake Jared’s hand and grabbed it firmly. “Jeff Morgan.” Running his thumb across Jared’s palm, Morgan asked, “You ever been on a boat before, boy?”

Bristling at both the “boy” and Morgan’s tone, Jared replied stiffly, “Many times. Why?”

“You’ve got city hands.”

Jared frowned and yanked his hand free of Morgan’s grip. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” 

He instantly disliked Morgan. Such a thing almost never happened to him. Generally, he gave people several chances before writing them off, but in this case, all of his instincts were warning him to keep away from this man.

Morgan’s lips twitched up in a condescending half-smile, but then he changed the subject abruptly. “Heard you had a close call yesterday.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“How big is it?”

“I can’t really remember. I guess I was too busy expecting to die.”

Morgan moved to stand too close. He reached up as if to touch the bruise on Jared’s forehead. “This bump on your head isn’t helping, I’m sure.”

Jared instinctively took a step back before Morgan could touch him. “Probably not.”

“What’s your guess then?” he asked, inching forward slightly. Morgan wasn’t quite as tall as Jared, but Jared found himself almost eye to eye with the man.

“I’d say around 16 to 18 feet.” Jared didn’t like Morgan’s closeness. It felt more predatory than friendly and sent a frisson of unease dancing down his spine.

“So, female then.”

“Likely, yes.”

“Always a damn woman, isn’t it?” asked Morgan with a wink. “Must be why I avoid them.”

Jared smiled politely but didn’t really know how to respond. _More like they avoid you_.

“What about you, Jared?” asked Morgan in a low voice. 

Jared’s pulse quickened. “What do you mean?”

“Handsome boy your age must have a girlfriend, right?”

“Uh, no. N-not right now.”

“You should work on that. It’d be a lot more fun than your own hand.” Morgan barked a laugh and swatted Jared’s ass, then turned to leave the cabin. He stopped short when he saw the metal of the shark cage outside the door.

“What this?” Morgan asked, pulling one of the metal panels of the cage into view. “Portable shower or monkey cage?”

“Anti-shark cage.”

Morgan looked at Jared, then back at the cage. “You go in the cage. Cage goes in the water. Shark’s in the water. Our shark.”

Jared nodded.

“This ain’t no suicide mission, lad. You’re outta your mind if you think I’m gonna let you use this fool contraption in the open ocean near that shark.”

“I’m a big boy, Mr. Morgan. As I said before, I do know what I’m doing.”

“Clearly not,” Morgan told him. Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked off. 

Jared scoffed. “Crazy old coot,” he muttered.

“Calling me old already?” asked Jensen as he breezed back into the room.

Jared huffed a laugh. “Nah, Morgan was just here giving me his opinion on my equipment.”

Jensen lowered his voice and said, “Yeah, he’s quite a character, huh?”

Jared just nodded. They both unpacked the rest of their clothes and tucked their bags under the bed out of the way.

“Where should I put these?” asked Jensen, holding up two scuba tanks.

“Up on deck, but be careful,” Jared answered. “Make sure they’re strapped down really tight. Those tanks are full of compressed air. If you mishandle them, they’ll explode. No joke.”

“Groovy,” Jensen said, his deep voice dripping sarcasm.

“Did you take your Dramamine?”

Jensen was already out the door heading topside with the tanks. “Yes, Mom!” he called back.

Jared chuckled and started cataloguing his equipment to make sure he’d brought everything aboard. 


	16. Chapter 16

__

_9:30 p.m._

Jensen sighed, sat down, and leaned back against the side wall of the flybridge. He was frustrated and tired at their lack of success during an entire day of non-stop rocking back and forth. His stomach had finally adjusted a bit and calmed down, but he was pretty sure the disgusting smell of chum would be stuck in his nose forever.

Jared sat beside him but not too close. More than anything, Jensen wanted to reach out and hold Jared’s hand; but, with Morgan around, that would be impossible. Right now the cantankerous captain was down below doing God knows what.

“Think we’ll be able to see them from here?” asked Jared.

“I hope so,” answered Jensen, glancing around in the sky for signs of fireworks that he figured would begin soon since it was fully dark.

“I’m sorry we didn’t find the shark today.”

“Me, too.”

“It’ll show up again soon.”

“I’m pretty sure this falls under the Be-Careful-What-You-Wish-For category.”

Jared let out a breathy laugh. Jensen looked over at him and raised his plastic cup full of bourbon and Coke. “Here’s to good luck tomorrow.”

“To good luck,” agreed Jared, tapping his cup against Jensen’s.

The boys sipped their drinks in silence a while. Suddenly, a loud pop in the distance caught their attention and they stood up in unison.

“Look!” Jared pointed. 

Jensen saw the red firework soar into the air and explode into thousands of sparkles that lit the night sky. Soon another followed, and then another.

Morgan called up from the main deck, “We should sleep soon. We’ll have an early start tomorrow.”

Jensen bit back an annoyed response. Instead, he answered, “After the fireworks.”

“See you tomorrow, then.”

He climbed down and disappeared below deck.   
  
Jensen watched Morgan leave and made sure he was all the way out of view before reaching over and taking Jared’s hand in his. The night air was crisp with a slight breeze, so he sidled closer to Jared for some welcome body heat.

For the next half-hour, the boys watched in silence as myriad fireworks exploded gloriously overhead. 

In between the noise of the fireworks, Jensen listened to the water lap against the boat as it rocked gently on the waves. The sea was relatively calm, and he suddenly realized he hadn’t really thought about his fear of water for the last couple of hours.

Wanting to make absolutely sure that his voice didn’t carry below deck, Jensen leaned close and whispered softly against Jared’s ear, “I think you’re helping me conquer my fear of water.”

Jared smiled. “I am?”

“I haven’t been terrified in at least two hours.”

“Right on, man,” Jared said with a grin, and bumped his shoulder against Jensen’s. “Ready to head down?”

Jensen nodded and pulled Jared gently by the hand over to the ladder. The boys climbed down from the flybridge and made their way quietly to their cabin. As he passed by Morgan’s door, Jensen heard the sound of snoring through the weather-beaten wood.

“You want the inside or outside of the bed?” asked Jensen softly as he closed their cabin door.

“Either. Which do you prefer?”

“I’ll take the outside if it’s okay with you,” said Jensen, reaching down to pull off his black T-shirt. He tossed the shirt aside and glanced up to find Jared staring at his bare chest. Those kaleidoscope eyes danced even in the dim light of their room.

Jensen took two steps and reached out to draw Jared against him. In a voice barely audible, he said, “I have an idea how you can help me forget I’m on a boat.”

Jared snickered softly and nuzzled Jensen’s ear. “Do tell.” He ran his fingertips feather-light along Jensen’s bare biceps. Jensen gasped at the goosebumps of pleasure that skittered along his arms.

“I’m going to lie naked right there on that bed,” Jensen whispered, motioning with his head. “And you’re gonna sit on my cock till you come for me.”

Jared grinned and shoved Jensen playfully down onto the bed. Letting let out a giggle of surprise that he’d deny till his dying day, Jensen hurried to remove his pants, boxers, shoes, and socks.

Jared threw off his own clothes and he stood completely naked beside the bed looking down at Jensen. He was already half-hard, his long cock plumping with each passing second.

“Jesus, Jared,” Jensen said, reaching up to run his fingertip along the underside of Jared’s cock. Jared moaned softly. When Jensen circled the head with the tip of his finger, Jared let out another, slightly louder moan.

“Shh,” whispered Jensen. “We need to be extremely careful. Every sound carries.” Even as he said it, he squeezed Jared’s cock more firmly and gave it a few long, firm strokes.

“Morgan’s asleep,” Jared whispered back. “He won’t hear.”

“Not if we’re quiet. I promise when we get back, I’ll take us someplace where you can scream all night long and I won’t care.” 

Jensen leaned forward and pulled the mushroom tip of Jared’s fully erect cock into his mouth. He tasted the salty tang and pulled off enough to tell Jared softly, “I love the way you taste. Wanna be inside you so bad.”

Jared pulled away and leaned down, giving Jensen a quick, hard kiss. “One second,” he said, and bent over to get his duffle from beneath the bed. 

Jensen watched him unzip the bag and dig through the items for a few seconds before pulling out a jar of Vaseline and holding it up triumphantly. “Always be prepared,” he said.

Jensen huffed a laugh and held out his hand, palm up. Jared slapped him five and then gave Jensen the jar. 

Jensen settled back onto the thin mattress and heard it squeak. He frowned, wondering if this idea would work or if the noisy bed would betray them. When Jared straddled him on hands and knees facing away from him, Jensen’s mouth went dry and his dick stood at full attention. Miles of smooth skin was there for the taking, so Jensen gladly took what was offered. He ran his hands up and down the inside and outside of Jared’s thighs, then moved them to his ass to give it a leisurely massage.

Jensen could hear Jared trying to bite back moans, but he couldn’t keep his hips still under Jensen’s hands, so Jensen knew the effect of his touches. Carefully popping the top off the Vaseline, Jensen dipped two fingers into the jelly and slowly circled Jared’s opening. He was thoroughly enjoying the view and Jared’s obvious pleasure when he felt Jared’s hot, wet mouth engulf his cock. Jensen bit off his groan and tilted his head back on the small pillow to try and regain his composure. Jared’s tongue was warm velvet on his shaft, moving from base all the way to the tip and back again in a slow rhythm. 

Jensen gasped and concentrated on slicking Jared up so he could get inside him as soon as possible. He slid two slick fingers into Jared’s ass, pushing them in as deep as they would go. Jared pulled his mouth off of Jensen and buried his face in the sheets of the bed to muffle his groans. 

“Want you, Sweetheart. C’mere,” Jensen whispered, urging Jared to turn around.

Jared carefully turned himself around until he was facing Jensen and straddling his hips. Jensen avoided Jared’s injured stomach and instead ran his hands along Jared’s muscular thighs as Jared lifted himself up and positioned himself over Jensen’s hard cock. Slowly, Jared lowered himself. Jensen felt Jared’s channel squeezing his cock so tight and desperately tried to think unsexy thoughts to keep from blowing his load right then and there before he even got all the way inside.

“God, you’re so big,” whispered Jared. “Ohh, Jesus.”

“You can stop if you need to.”

“Hell, no,” said Jared, almost fully lowered now. Finally he was resting his weight against Jensen’s hips again and his tight heat completely enveloped Jensen’s shaft.

The moment he lifted himself off of Jensen and pushed back down, the box springs gave a loud squeak. Jared gasped and stopped. 

“Shit,” Jensen swore softly. “Let me try pushing up.” He thrust his hips up and down against Jared, but the bed still gave the same telltale squeak.

“Damn it,” Jared whispered, his breaths coming hard. 

“Okay, Plan B,” said Jensen, and took Jared’s cock in his hand. “Sit totally still for me, sweetheart.”

When Jensen pulled along the length of Jared’s cock, Jared whimpered and wriggled his hips at the pleasure of it. The box springs creaked again and he let out another quiet whimper of frustration.

“I know, baby. When we get home, I’ll pound you into next week. But right now I want to watch your huge cock get all wet and come for me.” 

Jensen noticed as soon as he said it, Jared’s cock squirted more precome. He loved how wet Jared got, loved the feel of it on his fingers as he slid his hand back and forth along the iron shaft. “I love that you can’t move. You have to just wait for me to get you off, don’t you?”

Jared was panting now, and he just nodded and threw his head back when Jensen twisted his fingers around the tip of Jared’s cock.

“Harder,” Jared said, burying his fingers in the sheets and clutching them fiercely. Jensen had never seen anything so hot in all his life.

“Ask me nicely or I’ll keep you hard like this all night with no relief.”

“OhmyGod,” Jared groaned. “Promise you’ll do that to me when we get home.”

“Hell yes. I promise, sweetheart.” Jensen squeezed Jared’s dick and another spurt of precome dribbled down onto his fingers. He added it to the copious amount of slick along Jared’s cock and kept his strokes slow and steady.

“Please, please let me come,” whispered Jared.

Jensen sped up his strokes until Jared’s cock grew even harder and knew he was about to come. “Let me see it, baby. Come.”

Jared threw his head back and opened his mouth in a silent scream when he came. Hot, white strips of come spattered Jensen’s chest and dripped onto his hand, and Jared entire body convulsed in pleasure. The sight of Jared in the throes of his orgasm set Jensen off, and he lifted his hips hard off the bed to bury himself as hard as possible in Jared’s ass. The bed squeaked a bit in protest, but he didn’t care at that point. His dick exploded inside Jared, sending its huge load into Jared’s tight ass. The orgasm left him breathless and gasping for air.

When he’d regained his breath and some of his senses, Jensen pulled Jared carefully down to give him a slow, deep kiss.

“Want to keep you buried in me all day,” Jared told him in a sleepy, sated voice.

“Me, too. But we need to clean up and get some sleep.”

Jared carefully rolled off of Jensen and lay completely limp next to him on the bed. He looked utterly debauched. Jensen couldn’t help but chuckle as he got to his feet and went to the plastic water pitcher and bowl on the chest. He found an old rag that looked reasonably clean and wet it, then went back to the bed to clean Jared off with it.

Jared was already asleep when Jensen finished his task of cleaning Jared and himself. Jensen took a moment to relish Jared’s beauty before turning out the light and settling in beside Jared to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

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_Saturday, July 5, 1975_   
_6:30 a.m._

Jared jolted awake at the loud pounding. He jerked up too quickly and groaned at the pain in his stomach.

“Time to get up, ladies!” shouted Morgan.

“Jesus!” exclaimed Jensen as he sat up beside Jared.

Jared laughed at the dark scowl Jensen threw at the door. He said in a loud reply, “We’ll be on deck in five minutes.”

Jensen grumbled under his breath as he threw his legs over the bed. Jared took a few moments to enjoy the view of Jensen’s strong back and muscular ass and legs before getting out of bed himself. 

The boys bumped into each other a few times as they fumbled their way around the too-small cabin to throw on their clothes. Each time they bumped, they paused to share a soft kiss.

“Suddenly this tiny room seems like the Ritz,” Jared said after the third kiss.

Jensen grinned at him. “Agreed.” Then, in a lower tone, he added, “Maybe I’ll book us a room there so we can compare them.”

Jared’s blood warmed at the thought of sharing a deluxe hotel room with Jensen. He could spread Jensen out on the luxurious bed and spend hours kissing and licking every inch of his luscious body. 

“Mmm. Now that’s what I call an important research project.” He kissed Jensen firmly, then said, “C’mon. Let’s get this overwith so we can get to the important stuff sooner.”

With that, he ducked out of the cabin and trotted up the steps to the main deck.

The morning air was brisk on his face as Jared donned his knit cap and adjusted his glasses. He pulled his jacket tighter around himself and looked up at the flybridge. “Any sign?”

Morgan stared at him for several beats without answering. Flushing under the intense scrutiny, Jared was about to repeat his question when Morgan replied, “Not yet.”

Jensen arrived on deck and Morgan told him, “Chief, grab the chum bucket and start us a line.”

Jensen groaned but walked over to the bucket and got ready to drop the first chum marker.

“Jared, up here with me.” Morgan stood casually against the wheel with his arms crossed. While there was nothing overtly ominous, Jared’s gut instinct told him to tread carefully with this man.

***~*~*~*~***

_8:30 a.m._

“Chief, you’d better drop another marker for us.”

Jensen sighed. “I need a break. How about sending Jared down here for a turn?”

“Jared drives the boat, Chief.” 

Morgan scooted closer to where Jared stood at the wheel. Jared could feel his body heat he was so close. He frowned and said, “How about a little space, man?”

Morgan slid around to stand directly behind Jared and pushed his hips right up against Jared’s ass. From his position down on the main deck, Jensen wouldn’t notice anything amiss. It would just look like Morgan was instructing Jared on where to steer the boat. 

Jared elbowed Morgan’s ribs and opened his mouth to tell him off when he felt Morgan’s hand cup his crotch—hard. He gasped in shock.

“Shhh,” Morgan whispered against Jared’s ear. “If you scream, boy, I’ll tell the entire town what you and the Chief did last night.”

Jared’s blood froze. Blanching, Jared whispered, “W-what do you mean?”

Morgan breathed a low laugh against Jared’s ear and squeezed Jared’s cock again through his jeans. “Saw the whole thing, Jared. Watched everything through a little peephole in the wall.”

“You goddamned bastard,” spat Jared through gritted teeth. He was mortified at the idea of this asshole watching him with Jensen, seeing and hearing all the intimate things they’d done and said to each other. 

“That dick of yours, my God. A thing of beauty, I have to say. And you look so pretty when you blow your load, you know. Just watching you try to keep quiet made me come so hard.” Morgan massaged Jared’s balls through the denim and Jared squirmed, trying to get away.

“Stop moving, Jared, or Jensen won’t have a job.”

“He’ll see, damn it,” said Jared, his face flaming with both anger and humiliation. 

“If he does, it’ll be all your fault. I’ll have to tell him you begged me to do it.”

Jared scoffed. “Dream on, asshole. He’d never believe you.”

“No? After you told him how much you want him to control you and force you to do sexual things?”

Jared’s face flamed again at the knowledge that Morgan had heard such personal details. “That’s…different.”

“Is it? Does he know you so well that he’ll be sure of that?”

Jared wanted to scream in frustration. He wasn’t worried about himself, but if this maniac got back to town and told anyone anything at all, even the merest implication of a romantic liaison, then Jensen’s career would most certainly be at risk.

“What do you want?” he finally managed to grit out.

“That’s better. I want you to find time to give me a little taste of what the Chief got last night.”

“There’s no way to do that on this boat without him finding out.”

“You’d best find a way, boy. Or your Chief will have the shortest reign in Amity’s history.”

Jared sighed and bowed his head. Shit. “Okay, okay,” he whispered. “Back the hell up. I don’t want him to know about any of this.” 

“One more thing,” said Morgan. “Tonight, I expect you and Jensen to have sex again.”

“Hell no.” There was no way he would do that to Jensen.

“Hell yes, boy. Twice even, how’d you like that? I’m even gonna put in a special request, and you’re gonna perform for me. You know why?” he growled softly, yanking the curled ends of Jared’s hair at the nape of his neck beneath his cap. “Because if you don’t do it, he’s ruined. It’ll be all your fault. All you have to do is get off a couple of times and he’ll be just fine.”

“I can’t do that to him. It would be like…just, no. Absolutely not.”

“Have it your way. I’ll just go down and radio my friends at the docks to let them know what I overheard last night. By the time we make port again, your Chief of Police won’t even be able to find a job as a dog catcher within five hundred miles.”

A combination of rage, horror, and guilt washed over him. Tears stung his eyes. He fought to keep them from falling. “You are a piece of shit, you know that?” he snapped under his breath. “If you get Jensen fired, what’s to keep me from telling everyone in town about you blackmailing me?”

“Jared,” Morgan said in a condescending tone, “Do you really think anyone will believe that a respected former US Naval officer with three ex-wives would have the slightest sexual interest in you boys?” 

“Get the hell away from me,” Jared ground out, shoving back with his shoulder to punctuate the warning. If Morgan didn’t move away soon, Jared might actually throw him overboard.

Morgan stepped back and said loud enough for Jensen to hear, “Slow ahead if you please, Jared!”

Jensen glanced up at the flybridge with a scowl on his face. “I can go slow ahead!” 

Morgan climbed down the ladder and ducked inside the covered part of the deck.

“Why don’t you come out here and chum some of this shit?” Jensen griped, and Jared might’ve smiled at his grumpiness if he weren’t so mortified by the recent turn of events.


	18. Chapter 18

__

_8:45 a.m._

Jensen covered his mouth with his T-shirt and dipped out another scoop of fish guts. He grunted and squinched his face at the godawful smell of the chum. It was a miracle he hadn’t vomited already. If not for the Old Spice he’d sprinkled on the shirt he might have. He glanced up at Jared’s back as he piloted the boat, admiring his broad shoulders and long legs. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on those legs again later.

He reached in to grab another scoop of chum and flicked it out into the water. Without warning, a gigantic shark’s head burst from beneath the sea. The monstrous shark chomped its enormous jaws a couple of times around the bloody chum line and then sank beneath the waves again as if it were never there.

Jensen jerked upright, eyes wide. His heart beat in triple time and he dropped the metal chum scoop on the deck. Slowly, he backed away from the stern, never taking his eyes from the water. Once he’d backed into the covered area, he turned his head to Morgan and said quietly, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

Morgan’s head snapped up. He took one look at Jensen and bolted toward the stern.

“Shut it off, Jared!” shouted Morgan, and Jensen watched as Jared stopped the engine and turned toward the commotion.

The shark’s dorsal fin sliced the surface again at the stern, this time heading right toward the boat. All three men watched in awe as the shark coasted beside the _Orca_. 

Jared said, “That’s a twenty-footer.”

“Twenty-five. And three tons of him,” Morgan answered.

Jensen had never seen a shark in his life up to that point, but he surmised from the amazement in their voices that twenty-five feet couldn’t possibly be normal.

After the shark made its first pass, Morgan and Jared jumped into action. Jared ran below deck, and Morgan began assembling his harpoon gun. Jensen watched as Morgan tied a large yellow barrel to the rope on his harpoon.

“What’s that for?”

“I’ll show you in a minute, Chief,” said Morgan. He hurried out to the long wooden pulpit on the bow of the boat. 

Jensen watched as Morgan stood on the thin wooden pulpit plank and his stomach danced a jig around his feet. He imagined all sorts of grisly outcomes for a person standing in such a precarious spot. Rope railings or not, it looked about as safe as standing on a tightrope.

The shark sped by the boat a second time, and Morgan shot it with the harpoon. The yellow barrel flipped out of its holder and landed in the sea, wildly splashing behind the shark as it zipped away from the boat again. 

“Jared!” Morgan yelled. “Hook up another barrel, damn it!”

Jensen didn’t see where Jared had gone until he ran back on deck carrying some sort of instrument. He worked fast to tie the device onto the next yellow barrel.

“Come on now, here she comes again!”

“Don’t wait for me!” Jared snapped, fiddling with one of the hooks.

Jensen moved to the side of the boat to see where the shark was. He saw it approaching fast, dragging the first yellow barrel behind it. “Shoot it!” he exclaimed, heart pounding at the sight of the beast so close.

“Come on, Jared!” shouted Morgan as the shark swam into close range.

“Shoot!” Jared yelled, holding his hands up out of the way.

Morgan fired his harpoon gun again, sending a second barrel over the side of the boat and into the water. The shark raced past the boat trailing two barrels and didn’t slow down at all.

“The barrels pull the shark up, keep it from diving,” Morgan explained to Jensen. “When it gets tired, we’ll take the ropes and tie them to the stern cleats. Then we tow it till it drowns.” 

The three men watched the two barrels skitter across the surface of the ocean before disappearing beneath the waves.

“I can’t believe it! Two barrels and it went under again,” said Jensen. He looked at Morgan to find the captain with a stunned expression on his face.

“Incredible,” Morgan murmured.

Jared asked, “You ever have one do this before?”

Morgan gave his head a slight shake and quietly responded, “No.”

“How do we handle this?” asked Jensen.

“I’ll hook up a third barrel,” Jared said. “Morgan, get ready.”

Jensen watched as Jared hooked up a third barrel. While Jared was busy with that, Jensen ran below to their cabin and grabbed his loaded revolver and holster. On his way back to the main deck, he buckled the holster around his waist. Gunshot wounds might not be enough to kill it, but it might help to slow the shark down. If nothing else, he’d sure as hell feel better being able to shoot the damn thing.

He arrived topside just as Morgan fired his shot and the third barrel sailed into the ocean. Once again, the massive shark didn’t slow down. It swam directly beside the Orca hauling all three barrels as if they weren’t even there. 

Jensen aimed his gun at the shark’s head and fired several times. He saw at least one bullet hit the shark but it never slowed. Jensen watched in amazement as the fish wrestled all three barrels beneath the surface and disappeared.

“Jesus,” breathed Jared. When Jensen looked at Jared and noted his pale face and shocked expression, he was not reassured. He glanced back at the ocean and cold dread filled his bones.


	19. Chapter 19

__

_11:30 a.m._

Two hours later, Jared stood at the boat’s wheel and scanned the ocean for any sign of the barrels. They hadn’t seen a single indication of the shark since it had plunged beneath the waves earlier. He’d never seen any shark so massive in his prior research. Hell, he’d never even read about a shark so huge in the years he’d been studying them.

Morgan was on the main deck with Jensen. Both were scanning the area just as Jared was. Jared indulged himself for a few moments and took in Jensen’s tall, lean form in the morning sunlight. No clouds obstructed the sun’s rays, which gleamed like molten gold in Jensen’s short, light-brown hair. The slight bow in his long legs brought a fond smile to Jared’s lips. It faded when he remembered Morgan’s earlier threats.

Just as Jared’s stomach knotted again at the memory, Jensen called out, “Barrels!”

“Jared, hard starboard!” ordered Morgan.

Jared steered them toward the three bright yellow barrels that were currently not moving except for the natural motion of the sea.

“Does this mean it’s dead?” asked Jensen.

Morgan shook his head. “No. We’ll have to tow her to finish her off.”

Suddenly the barrels jerked forward and skipped across the choppy water. 

“She’s running! Jared, get a move on!”

Jared whirled the boat around to follow the barrels. Jensen heard him rev the engine as they came about to try and run the beast down. The shark cut through the water dragging the three barrels so fast that the _Orca_ couldn’t keep up.

Morgan climbed up to the flybridge and shoved Jared out of the way. “Let me do it.” He floored the engine.

“You’re putting too much pressure on it!” Jared exclaimed. “You’ll burn the engine up.”

Morgan didn’t answer, just revved the engine even harder. Jared looked down at Jensen and shook his head. “Hold on, Jensen.”

Jensen grabbed the railing and watched as the shark continued to pull away. “Why don’t we start leading the shark into shore instead of it leading us out to sea?” he asked Jared.

Before Jared could answer, Jensen watched as the three barrels sank beneath the surface again. “It went under again!” he told them.

“Morgan, slow it down!” Jared snapped. “She's gone.”

Just then, Jensen heard a loud metallic clacking sound. Black smoke billowed up from below, and his pulse galloped in fear. “Smoke!” he warned.

“Kill the engine!” Jared yelled at Morgan. To Jensen’s surprise, Morgan actually cut the motor this time instead of arguing.

“I’ll go below and take a look,” said Morgan, climbing down to the main deck. “Chief, you stay here and keep an eye out for the shark. Jared, you’re with me.”

Jared frowned but didn’t move from the flybridge. He watched Morgan go below deck without moving.

“Jared? You okay?” Jensen asked. He knew the engine trouble was bad news but figured Jared had run into this sort of thing before on his research trips. Jared’s knowledge about sharks and boats was the one thing that kept him from dropping into a catatonic state of panic right there on the deck. 

Jared nodded. “Fine.” He slowly came down the ladder.

“Are your injuries bothering you?” asked Jensen with concern. “Need more aspirin?”

Jared gave him a tight smile, and Jensen knew immediately the smile was forced. “No, no. I’m all right. Thanks, though.” Jared reached out and squeezed Jensen’s hand quickly. “I’ll be right back.”

***~*~*~*~***

_12:30 p.m._

Jared went down the rickety steps below deck and saw Morgan working a screw loose with his wrench.

“I’m gonna work on this engine while you work on my engine,” Morgan told him with a leer.

Jared’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”

“You know damn well what I mean, boy,” Morgan snapped. “Now get to it so we can get topside before Chiefy comes looking.” 

“You’ve lost your mind,” argued Jared, trying to keep his voice low despite his fury. “We’ve got a damn shark the size of Connecticut out there, and you’re expecting me to blow your needle dick right now?”

Morgan stopped working and gave him a sharp look. “You’ll do what I damn well tell you, or Jensen’s headed for meter maid duty.”

“You’re certifiable, you know that?!” Jared yelled, not even caring anymore if Jensen overheard him. He’d had enough of Morgan’s bullying and threats. He decided in that moment to tell Jensen everything and stand up to Morgan instead of giving in to his insane demands. “Go ahead and tell whoever you want,” he told Morgan through clenched teeth. “We’ll see who people believe, you son of a bitch.”

Morgan took a breath to respond, but Jensen shouted from the main deck, “Guys, it’s back! Three barrels, right at the stern!”

Jared ran up the steps, his gaze following Jensen’s pointed finger. Three barrels floated about twenty yards away from the boat. They weren’t moving, so Jared wondered if that meant the shark was finally tiring after its earlier race with the boat.

When the barrels whipped around and sped toward the boat, Jared knew he was wrong. “She’s coming right toward us.”

The barrels were only a couple of feet away when the men felt the boat shudder from a crushing impact. The shark’s dorsal fin surfaced and Jared watched in horror as the shark circled the boat.

“She’s attacking us. I don’t believe it,” he said.

An explosion from below rocked the boat. Morgan rushed back down the steps with Jared at his heels. Water was spurting steadily into the cabin area at an alarming rate. Jared’s heart sank. They were about to go down, and Jensen was terrified of water.

Morgan yelled up to Jensen, “Water’s coming in! Chief, grab the pump.”

Jared cursed and hurried back up to Jensen. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he said to Jensen, “Help me get the cage put together.”

“Hell no!”

Jared took hold of Jensen’s arms and looked him directly in the eye. “Listen to me, Jensen. We can pump water and maybe buy ourselves a few extra minutes, but this boat is about to sink, and we have to kill that bitch before it does.”

Jensen jerked out of Jared’s grip and fired back, “That shark’ll tear that cage to pieces!”

“You got any better suggestions?!” Jared demanded. His patience was frayed. He was furious at Morgan for putting them in this position by overheating the engine. He was angry at himself for not suggesting that they use his boat in the first place. He was frustrated that he didn’t remember the size of the shark to better prepare for this hunt before they ever got on board. And he was petrified of going underwater in the cage with the largest and most aggressive shark he’d ever seen. 

They didn’t have time for this argument, and he knew it. He didn’t want to go down in the cage any more than Jensen wanted him to. But the idea of Jensen being another victim of the shark or drowning in the ocean was unacceptable. 

Just then, Morgan came up the steps carrying Jared’s Shark Dart and the poison kit. “Jared,” he said, handing them over. “What exactly can you do with these things of yours?” 

Jared sighed. He unzipped the kit and pulled out a syringe. “Well, I think I can pump 20 ccs of strychnine nitrate into her if I can get close enough.”

Morgan took the syringe and examined it. “You can get this little needle through her skin?” asked Morgan, his voice skeptical.

Jared shook his head slightly. “No, I can’t do that. But if I can get her close enough to the cage, I think I can get her in the mouth with this.” He held up the Shark Dart.

The three men looked at each other in solemn silence for a few seconds. Finally, Morgan said, “Let’s get to it.”


	20. Chapter 20

__

_1:00 p.m._

The three men hoisted the metal cage over the side of the _Orca_. Jared, in his wetsuit and full scuba gear, climbed into the cage. His heart pounded as he checked the area for any sign of the shark. Seeing nothing, he cleaned off his mask in preparation for the dive.

Jensen tapped him lightly on his head and pointed at Jared’s eyeglasses. Jared and took them off and handed them over. He put on his mask and looked up at Morgan. “Try to keep her off me till I’m lowered.” Then, looking directly at Jensen, he said, “I’ll be back to help you with that research we talked about.”

Jensen smiled and said, “You’d better be.”

Jared took a deep breath and then tested his regulator. “Okay, okay, I’m ready.” 

Jensen and Morgan shut the top of the cage and both helped to lower Jared into the water.

Jared looked around for signs of the shark as soon as he was fully lowered. Not seeing anything, he adjusted his mask again. As soon as he looked up, he saw the dark grey shape approaching the cage. For a moment, all he could do was look on with incredulity. The shark’s size was overwhelming. At 6’4”, Jared was not a small man, and he was absolutely certain that this shark could swallow him whole. A stab of panic momentarily overcame him as the beast swam slowly by his cage, so he stayed absolutely still until she’d completely passed him by. 

After regaining his composure, Jared cursed himself for not having his dart ready the moment he went under. He removed the cork from the point of the Shark Dart and held it outside the bars so he’d have more room to maneuver it when the giant circled back for another look.

The impact from behind was a complete surprise. The massive force of it knocked him backwards inside the cage, and jarred the Shark Dart right out of his grip. The shark swam off again, and Jared dropped to the floor of the cage to try and see where his dart had landed. He saw a large dark shape below and thought it might be rocks, but it was hard to tell. He didn’t see any sign of his dart.

Jared stood up and turned around just in time to see the shark coming in for another attack. This time the collision with the cage was harder, and the shark’s huge snout forced apart the cage bars, giving her full access to Jared. He screamed and drew his hunting knife from his belt, pressing himself to the far side of the cage to avoid the shark’s snapping jaws. He yanked his long legs wide and up, out of harm’s way, as the shark’s mouth opened and closed in a desperate search for food. He screamed again and stabbed her on the head repeatedly with the knife until she slid back out of the cage. He scrabbled for the latch on the top of the cage as she attacked again, this time knocking the damaged cage bars completely out of her way. Jared shrieked again and pushed harder at the top of the cage, jerking his body to avoid razor-sharp teeth as the shark’s mouth chomped repeatedly beneath him.

Finally, the top of the cage opened and he surged upward and out, swimming as fast as he could to the dark mass below in the hopes of finding some sort of hiding place.

He nearly cried with the relief of finding a large formation of craggy rocks where he could shield himself from view. He hunkered down and looked up toward the cage. The shark rolled and writhed all around it, ramming it sideways and smacking it with her tail, biting down endlessly trying to find something there other than cold metal. Jared shivered as he watched, and wondered how the hell he would ever manage to get back to the boat to help Jensen.

He scooted around the rocks and looked again for the Shark Dart, all the while keeping an eye on the vicious cage attack still happening above. Adrenalin shot through his veins when he finally spotted it nearby in some seaweed. 

Glancing up to ensure that the shark was still busy dismantling the cage, Jared took a step forward on the rocks to try and push off hard and get to the dart faster. His flippered foot sank unexpectedly into a hole that opened up in the coral formation. Jared pulled hard but his foot didn’t budge.

When a large piece of metal from the cage landed on the sea floor right in front of him, Jared jerked his eyes back to where the shark had been. It wasn’t attacking the cage anymore. Instead, he saw the flick of a grey tail as the shark headed to the surface toward the _Orca_. 


	21. Chapter 21

_1:15 p.m._

“It’s attacking! Pull it up!” Jensen yelled, reaching down to yank against one of the tethers holding the cage. His adrenalin crashed through him so hard he thought his veins might burst from it. 

Jensen heard the sound of the crank but nothing happened. “Pull him up, Goddamnit!” he screamed. He couldn’t see what was happening, but the surface churned with bubbles, and the tethers were violently shaking. 

“It’s giving way!” Morgan warned, and Jensen looked up to watch the pulley arm splinter apart and fall to the deck.

“Rig something,” said Jensen, his voice pleading as visions of Jared bleeding or dead flashing unwelcome in his mind. 

Morgan finally got the broken pieces into a configuration that allowed him to turn the crank again and reel in the cage. He quickly turned the handle and the cage began to move. 

“It’s coming,” Jensen said with relief. “Slow it down, here we go.”

When the cage came into full view, Jensen’s blood froze. It was annihilated. And empty. The thought of Jared dead left him weak and breathless. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees for a few seconds.

He stood up again just as the hook supporting the cage broke off. Jensen jumped toward the flybridge wall to get clear of the rig, and the mutilated cage fell into the water.

The shark’s hulking body launched out of the ocean and landed on the back of the boat without warning. Jensen lunged inside the covered part of the deck and scrambled to find something to hang onto as the _Orca_ lurched to an almost vertical angle from the weight of the gigantic shark. The shark’s immense jaws opened and closed ominously, biting furiously at debris spilling from the deck into its maw. 

Jensen was able to grab onto a beam under one of the counters inside. Morgan was closer to the stern and couldn’t find any purchase. Jensen reached down and grabbed at Morgan’s outstretched hand. He held it for a second, but he wasn’t able to get a solid grip. Morgan’s gloved hand slipped from his grasp and his body slid on the slippery deck right toward mouth of the shark.

For a few heartbeats, Morgan’s legs frantically kicked and pushed and kept him safe from the shark’s waiting death bite. But gravity prevailed, and Morgan’s legs eventually slipped into the shark’s mouth. Jensen closed his eyes as Morgan shrieked in agony when the jaws clamped down on his torso. It was only a second before the terrible, high-pitched screaming abruptly halted.

Jensen’s terror threatened to overwhelm him over the following seconds. He gasped for breath, fighting to calm his mind. He looked desperately around Morgan’s office area for anything he could potentially use as a weapon. His gun was out of ammo, there was no knife or sharp object visible, and the boat was half-submerged.

His panic ratcheted up tenfold when the colossal shark burst into the office area right in front of him. The shark’s jaws chomped at nothing, working madly to find something to bite. Jensen noted with horror that pieces of flesh clung to its teeth. He clenched his eyes shut for a half-second and turned away. It was then he noticed the scuba tank floating right in front of him.

Jared’s warning flashed in his brain: _Those tanks are full of compressed air….they’ll explode…_

Jensen grabbed the tank and shoved it as hard as he could into the shark’s gaping mouth. He shrank back, fully expecting an explosion when the shark bit down. When it didn’t happen, he fought back another wave of panic. The shark disappeared beneath the flotsam and jetsam all around him in the water. He took a deep breath and resolved that he would go down fighting.

The _Orca_ was almost entirely underwater. Jensen climbed out of a window and was able to climb up the outside wall of the flybridge onto its deck. There he spotted Morgan’s rifle and grabbed it. He also picked up a harpoon. He checked to be sure the rifle was loaded and swung the strap over his shoulder. Glancing around, Jensen didn’t find many options for safe ground. The boat was sinking fast. The crow’s nest was still above water, so he climbed up as far as he could. He looked around the boat but saw no sign of the shark anywhere.

Water splashed up directly beneath him and he jumped in surprise. He maneuvered himself for a better angle and gripped the harpoon, stabbing the shark’s head repeatedly with all the force he could muster. The shark whipped to the side as made another thrust, and the harpoon lodged in the shark’s mouth. Jensen tried to yank it free, but the shark was too strong and jerked the harpoon from his hand. The monster fish turned sharply away and dove underwater again.

Jensen cursed and got his rifle ready. “All right, come on,” he muttered to himself as the shark circled to come around again. “Show me the tank.”

The crow’s nest was nearly at water surface level now. Jensen knew if he didn’t kill the shark in the next few seconds, it was all over. He took a steadying breath and threw his entire focus into finding the perfect shot.

The behemoth’s fin appeared about 30 yards away, directly in front of him. Jensen settled into position against the crow’s nest and took careful aim. It was moving fast but he couldn’t see its jaws, only the fin. He knew he couldn’t afford to wait, so he made his best guess about where the mouth and the tank might be and fired his first shot. It missed. He fired again, and again. Nothing.

“Blow up!” he cried, firing a fourth shot. The shark hadn’t slowed. It was very close now, and Jensen fired a fifth shot. Miss.

“Smile, you son of a bitch!” he growled, and fired his sixth shot. 

The noise of the explosion shocked him even though he’d been hoping for it. A geyser of red ocean water and guts spewed high into the air. Jensen let out a long, loud cheer of victory. 

The moment that imminent death was off the table, Jensen was instantly consumed by grief at what he’d lost. Images of Jared's dimples flashed across his mind. Jensen's eyes burned at the thought of never seeing those mercurial eyes or hearing Jared's infectious laugh again. The frigid water lapping at his shoulders pulled him out of his memories and back to his present predicament. 

The crow's nest he was holding onto was almost entirely underwater now. The rest of the _Orca_ had been claimed by the sea, and the crow's nest was mere moments from following it into the murky depths. Jensen looked around at all the wreckage drifting around him. He hadn't tried to swim in over fifteen years. Amity Island was barely visible on the horizon. It was impossible to tell exactly how far away he was from shore. The irony that he might perish from drowning instead of as a shark's dinner swept through him as he cast his gaze about for floatation options. His ever-present terror of drowning had been muted by his grief. Instead of panic, he felt only resignation and an odd detachment.

The sound of bubbles and splashing to his right caused him to tense up from the irrational fear that somehow the gigantic shark had managed to survive. But the moment he saw Jared’s head break the surface, Jensen sagged with relief.

“Thank God,” he breathed, and pulled Jared into a bear hug. “I thought I’d lost you.”  
  
Jared squeezed him tightly and replied, “I thought you had, too.”

They held each other for several moments, then Jensen pulled away and gave him a tender kiss.

“Can we get in on those?” he asked, motioning to the remaining yellow barrels floating nearby.

“I think so,” Jared said, and grinned. “Let’s go. We have a lot of research to do.”


End file.
